Rea: Great! It's up! Sorry this is a few days late! Hope you like it!
WARNING! SLIGHT MENTION OF SHOTA (two little boys) IN THIS CHAPTER- ONLY A KISS! NO REAL SHOTA, ONLY A MENTION! It's an explanation of who Ren was talking about in chapter one and why he's so distant with Lyserg!
Chapter Four: Housekeeping
Pailong's fists were fast, usually. However, when tied with wire to his body, it was harder to move. He tried breaking the wire to no avail.
"Woah! How does he do that?" Manny asked Jun.
"I believe his oversoul is in the string as well. Ren told me one dowser actually beat him in their first match..." Jun told her. "Ah! Ah! Pailong! Please, stop trying to break it! I believe that girl has won!" She shouted.
"She has indeed." Pailong said. "Impressive. I wasn't going that easy either."
"You were going easy on me?" Lyserg asked. "No wonder. I'm actually quiet weak."
"That certainly sounds like Lyserg." Ren told Bason, munching and apple and staring out his window at the early morning matches. "I told you not to go easy on them!" Ren shouted at Pailong. Jun laughed.
"No one would win!" She half-joked, to Tsuno's discontent. "That was the last one, Ren! We're testing housekeeping inside, if you want to watch."
"No, the fighting was what interested me." Ren slammed his blinds for the last time.
"Is Ren a great warrior?" Tsuno asked Jun, and she nodded.
"Of course." Lyserg said. "He participated in the Shaman Fight."
"That doesn't make you any good." Manny said as Jun led them into the house to a sitting room.
"He helped defeat Hao." Lyserg added.
"Wow!" Jun said. "You certainly are knowledgeable."
"Thank you. My cousin told me." Lyserg said. "He wasn't fighting there. He just went to see."
"No one in my family fought either." Manny said, sitting down at a nice coffee table on some pillows. Everyone else sat as well.
Jun's mother entered from another room with Pailong, who had gone to fetch her. "Now, we will test all of your housekeeping skills. I trust you've all gotten to know the house?"
They nodded.
"I've divided it into sections or you. Manny-"
"Can I have the dungeon?" She joked.
Ren's mother stared. "How morbid. No. You have the grand hall and the dinning area and kitchen. Tsuno, you have the great room in the North corridor, the bedrooms there and the bathroom there. Lyserg- am I saying that right?" She asked. Lyserg shook his head. "Ly ser g..." He nodded. "You have the same, but in the South corridors. Carolyn, you have the east wing. Fay, you have the west."
"So mine's like...the center of the house?" Manny asked.
"Except the throne room, yes." Jun replied. Manny rose, but Jun stopped her. "Wait! You are in charge of all the servants there, but you must do it all from here, while sewing some beautiful pillow or blanket for Len."
Tsuno groaned. Carolyn picked up needle and thread immediately and began. Lyserg and the others began shortly afterwards. It was harder than it seemed. First, it was hard to remember exactly what to tell the servants to keep everything clean. Lyserg had done well studying his surroundings, but this was a skill taken from the Shaman Fight that many of the girls didn't seem to have. Manny was quiet good as well. Second, the sewing. Carolyn was wonderful, and had three beautifully sewed pillows before her and was starting on a blanket by the time the bathroom was cleaned. Lyserg was slow. Of course he'd seen it done, but he wasn't wonderful at it. He'd never tried. He recalled the way his mother pulled thread and did it that way. Manny stared at him a while. "Have you sewed much?" She asked.
"I've never sewed." Lyserg replied, after telling a servant exactly how to clean Jun's room. "I've only watched my mother. It's sort of hard."
"Actually, in light of that, you're doing quite well." Pailong said. Jun nodded. She was sewing his arm where Lyserg had cut in.
"Sorry about your arm." he told Pailong.
"Kyonshies don't feel pain." He said.
"Do you know how to sew, Pailong?" Manny asked. Jun wrote in Ren's column. She stared at Jun as Pailong answered her affirmative.
"I bet I can guess that kanji means Ren, and I don't know the language." Manny told her, pointing with her needle at Ren's column.
"You're one of the only ones who has noticed I'm writing notes to Len. This time I wrote that you speak to spirits as friends."
"Really? Is that somehow bad?" She asked.
"No, it's funny, though, because well..you don't seem on good terms with your own."
"Oh, I don't have one. Seeda is my father's." Manny explained.
"Len likes women who respect spirits as people." She said.
"Well, look at this one." Tsuno pointed to Lyserg's Morphine.
Jun gave her a pointed look and wrote in Ren's column again. "You're ignoring a servant, Tsuno." She said.
Tsuno glared at Jun or the sewing in her hands, which was giving her difficulty, the rest of the time. She barely passed, while Jun's mother judged Carolyn, Manny and Lyserg on easily. Fay had cleaned one of the rooms she was not given permission, as the servants had tried to trick each one at least once. She was out of the running. Lyserg's servant had complimented "her" on "her" quick thinking. She hadn't been able to fool Lyserg for a minute. He just said "That's not my room." each time.
"You'll be judged for the last times tomorrow, I think." Jun said. "By beauty. Make yourselves wonderful tonight!"
"I received this letter from Ren just before I left." Lyserg held up a small evelope. Jun jumped and turned around quickly.
"Lyserg! You scared me so much!" Jun clutched her heart with one hand and took the letter with the other.
"Sorry...it arrived by telegram so..."
Jun began to read. "Lyserg, stop. I will be married very soon. Stop. I will no loner be able to see you. Stop. My wife will be a talented shaman capable of bearing a child. Stop. I'm sure you see why you are not...adequate. Stop." June said slowly. Then she smiled suddenly. Lyerg thought this very strange. She began to read again. "Hope you find someone else. Stop. Len. Stop." Jun looked up from the letter. "Don't you think it's funny that Ren tries so hard to act detached when he's most upset about something?"
"I always thought it was a bit strange. It even bothers me a bit..." Lyerg said with a frown.
"Perhaps it wouldn't if you knew why?" Jun asked. Without pause she began to tell him. "When Ren was young, he went through severe training to become a great Shaman. He told me about your training." She said before he could respond "And it was so...simple comapred to Len's..."
"What?! I searched for that key for-"
"Coffins." Jun said, and Lyserg was still.
"What?"
"Coffins, I said. Small rooms with decaying animals...even the room with the Kishonies. These are places Father used to lock Ren up in when he was young. To dispel any fear, he would say. And to toughen him to the standard of surviving anything. All he ended up doing was making him claustrophobic and unfeeling. His training was fierce and bloody. He was taught not to feel, because feeling only hurt. When he entered the Shaman fight, he knew only how to destroy. Yoh taught that child, Ren, kindness and purity. He deeply regrets the way he's killed and destroyed. He wishes to be kind now, but he isn't entirely sure how. Ren wanted to quickly sever your relationship with this letter, though you are what he wants more in than anything. Please pay it no mind, Lyserg. Len will forever be happy in your embrace. And you can tell him I said that." Jun winked.
"...No wonder...Ren's so tough...and sexy..." Lyserg blushed a bit thinking of Ren's strength. "Jun, do you think Len will be able to open up to me more once it's permanent? The last time..." Lyserg stopped short.
Jun smiled. "If he doesn't, tell me. I'll soften him up for you. And you were saying....? Last time..." She urged on, but Lyserg was silent. She guessed easily enough. "Last time you had sex?"
Lyserg turned bright red, but nodded. "Last time..." He mumbled something "Len said...he said he loved the way I...." He mumbled something else.
Jun leaned in "Sorry, what was the last?"
"He...said...he....loved...the...way....Imadelovetohimgently." Lyerg forced out.
"Hm? You...oh! Made love to him gently!" Jun translated. "You're as bad as Len!" She laughed. "He can be sweet. You have to put him in the mood, I guess. Only you can find out, right?"
"He said he needs to provide an heir...."
"That's fine...if you don't mind stuffing your shirt full for seven months while you supposedly grow a baby." June giggled a bit, and Lyserg shook his head, smiling a bit at the thought.
"It's for a good cause. What are you going to do?" Lyserg asked.
"I'm having a test tube baby with samples of Len's sperm grown." Lyserg stared at Jun wide-eyed at this proclamation. Jun stared back. "I'm counting on you to get them, of course!" She yelled in a panic.
"Shh!"
"Sorry, you're right. We must be quiet."
"Len will understand, I'm sure." Lyserg said. "I just need to explain it to him."
"You best go to sleep, Lyserg. You'll be tired in the morning." Jun told him.
Lyserg nodded. "Thank you for everything, Jun." He hugged her and left to return to Morphine. Jun smiled at his lack of emotional distance.
"Just what you need, little brother." She said.
"So it is Master Lyserg..." Came a deep voice from the shadows. Jun jumped, placing her hand over her startled heart again. She turned to face the voice, recognizing it before she saw him.
"Oh, Bason!" She said in relief. "You scared me!"
"My apologies, Miss Jun." Bason said sincerely.
"Please don't worry about me." Jun said "Ren has noticed? I knew he would..."
"Bacchamus is really very smart." Bason said proudly. Jun giggled at his obvious devotion.
"Did he tell you to come?" Jun asked.
"Yes, but I am sure he would like to hear it from your own lips." Bason told her. "He doesn't understand how you could possibly expect him to choose a male. He would be happy, I'm sure...but I did not realize what you spoke to Lyserg about was a possibility. You can create an heir?"
"It's complicated, and immoral to some people...but Bason...I believe this child is still a person with a soul and can succeed Ren like any other child. The Great Spirit wouldn't allow such things if a human without a sould could be grown. He must look like Ren, though, and he must also be able to pass a DNA test...I talked to a biologist about this. I can't say I understand it, but he seems confident that he can do what we hope for. Please tell Len that his big sister is here for him. He must have courage, and faith in me."
"I...wish you would speak to him yourself, Mistress Jun..." Bason said. "I can tell him what you said, but your words and disposition will inspire his confidence more." Bason looked slightly uncomfortable.
Jun gave him a look of concern. "Do you think that Ren somehow has no confidence in you, Bason?"
"It isn't that he lacks confidence in me, Miss Jun..." Bason let the sentence trail off.
"I'll speak to him. Bason, you're Ren's very first spirit friend. You've been there for him for so long...it just took us a while to recognize you and Pailong as dedicated and true friends. I'm sure his confidence in you as a spirit is grand, but his confidence in you as a soul is more than you can imagine. How is it you can see Ren's happiness and his tears when they are so hidden, but you can not see his heart?"
Bason looked thoughtful as he turned to go, but Jun called him back. "Bason? Why is it that Ren is so afraid of being caught?" Bason sighed, dropping his head. He turned back to face Jun with a depressed face.
"You may have been too young, Miss Jun, but...do you remember a young servant named Yin?"
"Of course!" Jun said. "I wasn't that young when he disappeared, Bason. About eight, maybe? But even I know what 'disappeared' means in this family..."
"Master Ren cared for this boy very much." Bason told her. "And you know that he has been...tortured." Jun nodded.
"I want to know the real reason." Jun said. "What was Yin killed for, then?"
Bason shook his head. "I'm sure Bacchamus will be upset with me for telling you, Miss Jun, but I will say this...Tao's...have always liked to watch."
"Bason!" Jun whispered, knowing his meaning.
"I did not mean to speak so crudely to you, Miss Jun, but you must understand that this had a major effect on Yin's death. Master Ren...had a glimpse of this act once..."
"Oh, Ren!" Jun said "How dreadfully. He was so young, Bason..."
"It was not dreadful to him, Miss Jun. Rather he was inspired by watching. He wanted to try."
"Naturally...He is a boy...but...." Jun let the sentence trail off, then continued. "But children introduced to sex so young..."
"It was just a little kissing, Miss Jun." Bason assured her. "But still...he had feelings for Yin. Master Ren kissed him on the lips, Miss Jun...and he was caught."
"Did they kill him...in front of Ren?" Jun asked, in some pain.
"Of course...It was a deciding factor in the change that came over Bacchamus not much later...he closed his heart to such pain. He believed..."
"That no one could help being cruel." Jun finished. "I hadn't realized my brother was into such...shota..." Jun said to cheer herself.
"Miss Jun!" Bason said, waving his hands and shaking his head. "It was only a kiss!"
"Oh, Bason, it's still two young boys!"
"A kiss! A kiss!" Bason insisted, and Jun laughed.
"Lyserg, Truth or dare?"
"Oh, were you talking to me?" Lyserg put the telegram in his pocket again.
"Yah. Truth or dare."
"Oh, I don't think that's a good idea, Manny....I mean, with all of us girls trying to get Len, it would be cruel to dare someone out of the game and-"
"Haven't you payed any attention?" Manny complained. "We're playing by all the right rules!"
Lyserg sighed. "Truth."
"Ah, great! I've been wanted to ask someone who cares about getting the hand of this rich Chinese snob!" Manny said. Some of the girls cast her dirty looks, and Lyserg's eyes narrowed. She had no right to judge Len from such a distance. "What would you say if you saw him tomorrow? What if you were all alone together?" Manny teased.
Lyserg smiled. He didn't need to think. His response was ready "I would say-" He began, and all the girls crowed around him. "' Master Len," Some of the girls nodded, and others seemed to think this was a strange way to call him "'I dreamed last night that I was yours. And I waited for you to come to me, but you wouldn't. So I came to you. And in my dream, you were very little like what you are now. Because I always knew who you were, and now...I can see you clearly for the first time. Not who you were, but who you are. And I dreamed you wanted me too. I never wanted to wake up but to the reality that was just like that dream."
Tsuno stared at Lyserg with a strange expression. "Seriously?" She giggled. Most of the others looked at him with admiration.
"Hmm...seems like the rest is awfully familiar when you've already called him 'Master' Len." Manny teased.
"Yes, well...A wife should be both distant and familiar. She should address her husband with respect, and honor his words. However, such a flirty response as the one I would give if I should see him is...not inappropriate for the time."
"Very romantic." Said one girl
"I feel romantic towards Len." Lyserg admitted.
More girls started to stare. "You don't even know him." Manny said.
"I don't have to." Lyserg said. "It was love at first sight." Well...that wasn't necessarily true, but...that wasn't the question I was first asked anyways.
"You don't care about his inheritance at all?" Tsuno asked.
"Or his Shamanic power?" Carolyn added.
"Which is good too." Tsuno said, pointing at Carolyn to add to her point.
"No, it isn't like that at all. I mean, naturally, I want a Shaman. No one else would understand me at all! But he doesn't HAVE to be powerful. And I have my own inheritance. It's a large dowry." Lyserg said.
"Oh, do you think we need a good dowry?" Tsuno asked.
"I hope so." Manny added, to Seeda's annoyance. "I don't have one."
"Why are you here?" Tsuno asked Manny.
"Force." Manny replied. "Hey, maybe if I suddenly get fat, he wont' want me! Can I have that candy? Are you going to eat that?" Some of the girls stared at Manny now. Tsuno handed her a candy bar. "Anyways, don't you care about looks, girl?" Manny asked Lyserg, biting into the candy bar.
"A little, of course. But not as much as I could, I guess....fashion's important to me too, but Ren's looks, fashion, Shamanic strength, amount of money and even intelligence are great. I'm sure a lot of you are here just for those. I have a question for you girls now: Is THAT all YOU care about? Don't you care about who he is?"
"Well, no. Since there's no way to know." Carolyn said at the same time as Manny was saying "Yah. Duh."
"You girls need to look deeper than the surface if you can't tell who he is and what he's like just from looking. You didn't learn that in housekeeping 101." Lyserg said. He handed Morphea a cracker and she took it. And that was that.
Rea: Thank you for reading this! Please leave a review!