Saiunkoku Monogatari: Fushi no Uta

By the-key-of-the-twilight

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiunkoku or its beautiful characters and probably never will…

A/N: To be honest, I was very surprised at how much feedback I got from my last chapter. Of course, I was surprised in a good way! Thank you all so much for reviewing since it is always great to know what my readers are thinking. Your comments will definitely help me write better and better! So, please enjoy this chapter! (And you'll see why I asked that Shuurei pairing question last chapter…)


Chapter 6: A Chain is as Strong as Its Weakest Link

"What?!"

Shuurei jumped up and nearly knocked over the cup of tea on the table. "R- Ryuuki is s-sick?"

She had requested an audience with him just yesterday and now he was ill? He looked fine, if not a little tired, when they had spoken with each other. Was she the awful carrier of some disease?

"I heard he first began experiencing symptoms last night, but has had headaches for the past few weeks. It may be from all the stress and work he's been put through lately or it could be from one of his assistants," Shouka said calmly, and motioned for Shuurei to sit down.

"Is it serious? Is he resting? Is he eating?" she asked in a rather motherly manner.

"He said it was just a little cold, but apparently he wasn't well enough to leave his bed today," the librarian replied. "But the doctor said it wasn't serious so don't worry yourself with it."

"He couldn't leave his bed?" she repeated and conjured up an image of an ashen Ryuuki lying in his death bed. His mouth was trembling and many people sat around him weeping.

"Shuu… rei… I… love you…"

"Ahhh!" Shuurei cried and shook her head free of the image. Why did I think of that?, she asked herself and looked up at her father to only see him staring strangely back.

"Are you alright, Shuurei?" he asked. Shuurei nodded but the redness that had risen to her cheeks proved otherwise. "You're very red. Are you getting sick, too?"

"N- no! Of course not!" she replied a little nervously. "What would make you think that?" She quickly made up an excuse for her to leave. She had to see him. "Oh, I almost forgot! I was supposed to meet with Assistant Tei a while ago!" Suddenly, she burst out of the archives and left Shouka puzzled in his chair. After a moment, she poked her head from behind the screen. "Oh, and thank you for the tea, Otousama! It's getting slightly better!" And with a rather nervous smile, she left the archives with Shouka grinning to himself.


"Hmm?" Small fingers unfolded the piece of paper received. "A letter from Shuurei-san?"

"Hime-san?" Ensei asked and a sudden excitement appeared on his face. "What does it say?" Eigetsu scanned the letter and then reread it again to make sure he had the details right.

"She's gotten approval from the Finance Department, but still needs the consent of the emperor in order for the plan to work," he summarized and looked up. "Shuurei-san is working hard."

"Haha, a hard worker she is," the man replied. "Even when she returns home, she stills places her duties as her first priority. I have to say, that type of work ethic is admirable." The gruff man didn't look like one who had a good work ethic.

"Unlike someone we know," a sharp voice rang out as the door opened. Kourin stepped in the room with a tray. "I've brought the tea." With small and graceful steps, she made her way to Eigetsu's desk and poured him some tea.

"Hey! Just to have you know, I take pride in my work!" he defended himself and quickly sat up on the couch.

"And who's the one sitting on the couch? Who's the one working at his desk?," she teased as she glanced at Eigetsu.

"Now, now, Kourin-chan, Eigetsu laughed, "Ensei-san helps me a lot. He does many things and protects us. If we weren't alive and safe, then we wouldn't be able to accomplish any work at all!" She huffed and reluctantly walked towards the couch. After filling his cup halfway with tea, she left and went to pick up her tray.

"Hey, how come mine's half-empty?" Ensei shouted and pouted at the sight of his half-filled cup.

"It's not half-empty, it's half-full," she observed. "Plus, I'm all out anyway…" She waved her empty teapot. "I'll bring some more later." And with some grace, she marched out the door. Still displeased, Ensei's eyes darted towards the desk in which Eigetsu sat in, smiling childishly.

"Eigestu-kun, I think she hates me," he said bitterly and gulped down all his tea rather noisily. "I wonder if she's trying to make a point by showing her total dislike for me in her treatment."

"Oh, Kourin-chan doesn't do that!" Eigetsu said and redirected his attention onto the paperwork before him. "She's just having fun with you. It's how she shows her affection."

"Or rather," Ensei added, "how she shows her affection towards you." However, after he set down his teacup, a particular thought bothered him. "If she ran out of tea after a cup and a half, that means she intentionally wanted to give me half?" A nervous chuckle answered his question.

"Actually…," Eigetsu said quietly. Ensei took a good look at the governor's desk again.

On that desk were five cups of steaming tea.


"Danna-sama! Why didn't you tell me?!" the purple-haired warrior yelled as he grabbed the sleeve of his master's robe. "WHY?!"

"It was not necessary for you to know, Seiran," the librarian answered in a cool voice. "I know it's hard to understand, but please try."

"Not necessary?!" Seiran shouted. "So you think it's not necessary to provide the utmost protection for the Emperor! And why was I, a loyal bodyguard to His Majesty, not informed of this!"

"Seiran," Shouka said as he slowly removed the warrior's hand from his sleeve, "I think you're overreacting. The only reason I did not tell you was because we wanted to handle this situation without much notice. It's a small threat and it could never be possibly carried out with our tight security. However, we want to find the leader responsible for this as quickly as possible. Do not worry, Ryuuki will be safe…"

"Ryuuki…" Seiran whispered to himself as he thought of his younger brother. "Does Ojousama know of this?"

"Yes, she does," the father replied. "Just recently actually." With a grunt, Seiran turned and marched towards the door, but slipped a bit as he approached the door. "Seiran." He stopped dead in his tracks.

"You've been drinking, haven't you?"

The purple-haired warrior was at a loss for words. How did he notice?, he wondered nervously.

"Seiran, if there is something that is troubling you, please tell me," Shouka said.

"And I would really tell you something as minor as my worries," he replied swiftly. "While you wouldn't tell me something as important as Ryuuki's danger…" Silently, he walked out the door.

And then suddenly, he threw himself back along the walls of the hallway. His head hurt… a lot. He felt nauseous and extremely tempted to spill his insides at any moment. His eyes began to water and he pressed his hand hard against his temple. No one could understand him. No one could understand his worries. No one could soothe that aching pain in his heart.

No one...


"Your Majesty, Governor Kou Shuurei has made a request to see you," a servant said.

"Let her in immediately," Ryuuki cried in a hoarse voice from his bed. The servant bowed and opened the door. Shuurei entered, breathing heavily from hurrying here.

"S- so it's true…" Shuurei said, more to herself than anyone else, "you're really ill…" She approached the bed and nearly gasped at the sight of his visage. He was pale, yet his cheeks glowed bright red, and his lips had lost their cheerful color. His hair laid spread out like overflowing rivers over the mattress. Beads of perspiration collected at his temple and ran down his face. Was it really just a cold? Shuurei sat down silently in order not to disturb him. But she realized that her plan had failed when she felt a cold hand grasp her arm.

"S- Shuurei," the emperor croaked and tightened his grip on her arm. "We're happy you came… to see us…" Bloodshot eyes could be seen as he peered at the beautiful governor before him in between his heavy eyelids. However, rather shocked, Shuurei pulled away her arm and Ryuuki's hand slipped and fell on the mattress. Disappointed, he turned away from her and closed his eyes as he felt another throb of pain in his head. "Shuurei, why must you be so cold to us?"

"We can't wait anymore, Shuurei…" he said gravely. "We can't wait for you forever… And you cannot afford to wait either…" He reopened his eyes and stared out the window. "I've been thinking a lot these days… about you… about us… about the future… And I've realized that we have a duty and that you have a duty, too." Another throb of agony. "Shuurei, we have decided to…" His voice broke off and water began to gather in his eyes.

"… let go…"

Never had those two words affected Shuurei so much. She sat stunned in her chair, staring at the man that had said those words. She had never expected him to say such things or to even bring up matters like this while he was so ill. She waited for him to turn around and return to the old Ryuuki and say it was all a trick to make her love him. But he didn't. Instead, he quivered violently as if what he was saying was sapping all of his strength.

"Please understand… we love you, but we have decided… that you must find your true love so that you will… be happy in the future…" His tone began to waver as tears streamed down his cheeks. He was at least glad that no one could see him cry. "We w- want to m-make you happy, S- Shuurei…and we have waited s- so long, but you were not happy… y- you never smiled at me… you n-never embraced me… you never l-loved me…" He choked on his own words and ended up in a coughing fit.

"Ryuuki!" Shuurei leaned over the bed and quickly helped him to sit up. She patted his back until his breathing calmed down. "Don't scare me like that!" Suddenly, his head fell against her chest and he stayed there, unmoving. "W- wha?" And then, without warning, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

"C- can we just stay like this… for just a little while…?" he pleaded and inhaled in her sweet scent. Although Shuurei was never the romantic type, she couldn't help but feel that this embrace was… different. It wasn't one of the other ones she had received from him. It was like a last goodbye… or…

Her hands began to move up, but before she could wrap her arms around his waist, she restrained herself and her arms fell idly beside her. Normally, she would have pushed him away but now, she almost felt tempted to collapse in those loving arms of his, even if they were weak at the moment. After a few minutes, she realized that he had been silently crying. Her shoulder was damp and her skin could feel the moisture through the cloth. It was only after a while that he began to hiccup and gasp as he buried his face in her neck.

"We… love you, Shuurei," he whispered. "No… I… love you, my beautiful Shuurei…" He loosened his arms and stared up at her with those tired eyes. Another fresh wave of pain struck him. "Will you say my name… for the last time? Will you s-smile for… me?" His shaking hand clutched at her sleeve. "… please…?"

"Ryuuki, what are you sa- !" But his hand lost its grip and he fell against her again. However, this time, he wasn't conscious. "Ryuuki? RYUUKI!!" But he just laid there unmoving, his limp body burning with fever.


"I heard the Emperor's sick!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, this is our chance!"

"I'm so excited! My hands are shaking!"

"Is this it? Are we really going to do it?"

"Maybe… just maybe…"

"Take them down when their Emperor's weak in bed! Ha, great!"

"Will it really work?"

"No! It's wrong to fight people when they're at a disadvantage!"

The whole crowd in the narrow alley turned towards the young woman that had spoken. She clutched her baby girl tightly against her bosom and looked about nervously. "It's wrong! People are still people! We have to fight fair if we want true freedom!" Her black eyes glittered with anger and fear. Some of the crowd laughed.

"Oh, ho! What's this?"

"If you want to fight fair, I think it's better for you to get out of here!"

"Humph, well maybe it's because we were never treated fairly!"

"Ah… it's that Kago girl again… she's always so troublesome…"

"If you have a problem with us, then get out!"

"Yeah, move it!"

"SILENCE!!"

A handsome man stood gallantly at the entrance of the alley. Two of his most noble supporters stood proudly beside him and the crowd automatically reorganized themselves in order to create a path for them. The man strode down the path and walked until he reached the dead end.

"Foolish men and women, if we are truly Kiyou's only hope, we must not fight amongst ourselves," he stated in a booming voice. "We must love one another, every single one of you is important to the fight for freedom and justice!" Several cheers rang out from the crowd. "And plus, I agree with Kago's decision." The crowd suddenly hushed and whispers broke out. "I believe that it is best to wait on the true assassination."

"But Danna-sama! This is a great opportunity to attack and bring them down!" a young man cried from the crowd and was almost slapped by his neighbor for defying their leader. The handsome man chuckled.

"Now did I say we weren't going to do anything?" he laughed. "You know what they say: a chain is as strong as its weakest link. Take down one department and the whole palace falls apart."

"Are you saying-?"

"Yes! YES!!" the leader interrupted and burst out in laughter. "We will take down the Civil Affairs Department while security is concentrating on the foolish Emperor. We'll kill the head of this department and have them recognize our power!"

"And how will we do that, Danna-sama?" the young man asked again and this time, he did receive a slap from his mother.

"I apologize, Danna-sama," she said. "My son is so disrespectful." The leader chuckled.

"No need to apologize, he is just as excited as I am to finally get revenge on those cold, rich bastards!" he cried. "To answer your question, we'll use poison." Many within the crowd gasped and talked amongst themselves.

"Poison?"

"Will it work?"

"That's a great idea!"

"They'll never expect it coming!"

"Striking the Civil Affairs Department first is a good plan."

"I can't wait!"

Soon, the crowd roared with cheers.

"LONG LIVE DANNA-SAMA!!"

The handsome man smiled and pulled out his bright sword.

"LONG LIVE DANNA-SAMA!!"

And on his sword emblem, were red spider lilies.


A/N: This chapter's a little short, a guess. (And I think the rebels were a little bit overexcited…) Sorry for the long wait though. I thought I would have more time over the break to work on this story, but I was really preoccupied with other things. I'll be much busier from now on since spring is the time for finals, APs, and SATs. But I love this story and you guys so much so I'll work hard on trying to update it as much as I can! So, I hoped that all of you enjoyed this chapter and again, reviews and comments will be greatly appreciated!