Saiunkoku Monogatari: Fushi no Uta

By the-key-of-the-twilight

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiunkoku Monogatari

A/N: Just as a note, General Ran will now be referred to as "Ran-shogun" for consistency's sake. And as a reply to some of my confused readers, Ryuuki refers to himself as "we" because he is the emperor and I guess it's because emperors are supposed to think of themselves as a "whole" with their empire and their people. He refers to himself as "we" in the anime so I'll leave it that way.


Chapter 8: Steal a Bell with One's Ears Covered

Snow began to fall as winter approached. Houses began to wear their soft caps of white while ice crystallized near the water's edge. The winter in Kiyou this year was a particularly cold one. The freezing wind blew ruthlessly at the people and horses and even managed to tip over carriages. Many believed that the gods were angry and decided to take all the heat from the world as punishment.

However, amidst this seemingly icy city, a fire sparked; the fire of revolution was born.

"If only my parents were still here. They'd be so proud!"

"Shhh! Keep your voice down, young one. If we get caught, we'll-"

"Be goners for sure. Don't let your guard down…"

"But I think it's funny how weak their security actually is… I mean, we just pretended that we were-"

"Silence! I hear footsteps…"

"Let's get out of here! Quick!"

Tei Yuushun entered the kitchen and looked around. He swore he had heard voices and hoped that there was someone here to fix him some food, but apparently he was wrong. He sighed and walked over to the counter. On it were many bags of tea leaves. But tea wasn't going to suppress his hunger. When he completely turned his back to the door in search for food, the three figures quietly made their escape.


"It's a letter from Eigetsu!" Shuurei cried happily as she unfolded the piece of parchment. She felt it had been forever since she last saw him and was excited that she could still contact him through letters.

You work very hard, Shuurei-san. Thank you for thinking about us. Everything is going very smoothly and Sa Province is really becoming a strong state. It's all thanks to you. We await your return.

Tou Eigetsu

She sighed as she held the letter against her chest. For once, she was happy that she was reappointed Governor of Sa Province. It was a never-ending job, but the smiles of the people always cheered her up. She could imagine them now, praising her while their children were well-educated. That was her dream. Shuurei dreamed that Sa Province could be self-sufficient and prove to be one of the greatest nations.

After she stored the letter safety in a small box, Seiran entered the room. He was wearing his usual loose attire in which was refreshing for Shuurei. She liked him better when he wasn't in his suit of armor. It made him seem more kind and familiar, not distant and serious.

"Ojousama," Seiran called as he pulled out a slip of paper from his shirt. "Would you like to go shopping with me?"

"Oh, of course!" Shuurei replied as she quickly stood up and patted at her crumpled robes. "Let's go!" She tugged at his arm and led him (rather forcefully) out the door.

"We need leeks first," Seiran read from his grocery list as the two walked through the market. They were awfully busy today. There were a lot of booths set up that they had never seen before and most of the stores had long lines. The two passed by a booth that they had bought vegetables from in the past, but there was a huge crowd of people and neither of the two wanted to squeeze in among them. "Let's try something else first…" He pulled out his list again. "Potatoes… no, that's a vegetable, too… beans?" Shuurei nodded in agreement and both of them began to walk away. However, a familiar noise made them stop dead in their tracks.

And unfortunately, this noise was not a pleasant noise at all.

A figure emerged from behind the crowd and like pigeons, the crowd of people fled away from him and held their ears. It was a horrible, squealing noise and that could only mean one thing: Ran Ryuuren was here.

"Ah, if it isn't Soul Friend Number One!" he cried out gleefully as he recklessly swung his flute about. "It must be fate that meet today here!"

"Oh, R- Ryuuren-sama!" Shuurei exclaimed. She was surprised to see him, and a little scared too. He seemed to pop up wherever he wanted to. "Are you shopping today as well?"

"I'm looking for… inspiration," the strange Ran brother sighed as he looked up at the sky. "It's a beautiful day today. I must not let it go to waste by staying indoors." He inhaled a great amount of fresh air. Shuurei sighed. Recently, he seemed to becoming more and more infatuated with nature. Was this the result of him being closer to Eigetsu?

"Well, we must continue shopping or we'll have no dinner tonight," Seiran said bluntly, obviously hoping to rid of the horridly-skilled flute player. "So if you don't mind, we'll be-"

"Then I shall accompany you!" Ryuuren answered ecstatically. "Let us go on this 'shopping' journey together!"

The three made their way through the marketplace using a very useful weapon to scare people away: Ryuuren's flute. At first, he had to play his flute in order to make those who couldn't handle the horrible noise move away. However, soon enough, those who managed a glimpse of his flute would back away in fear, praying that he wouldn't play a song. Although his songs were a pain to hear, Shuurei and Seiran couldn't deny the fact that they could finish shopping much more quickly than they had expected. Who knew his flute could come in handy in these types of situations.

"Ah, isn't this wonderful?" Ryuuren said cheerfully. "Everyone loves my songs so much! They've even let us go to the front of the line! I must write more!" Although bother Shuurei and Seiran knew that it was rather the other way around, they made no comment about it.

"I think we're finished," Seiran finally stated as he ran through the shopping list a second time. He was pretty sure they had bought everything. He glared at Ryuuren out of the corner of his eye. He had been hoping for a while that he would get bored and just leave. Apparently that wasn't the case. "Do you have other duties to attend to, Ran-dono?" he asked, placing one hand on his hip and his other arm clutched a bottle tightly to his side.

"Not really," the Ran brother replied bluntly, obviously not catching the implied meaning of the soldier's words.

"Then why don't you come over and have dinner?" Shuurei offered. Seiran was so afraid that she would say that. If he was alone, he would've smacked himself on the head. Just thinking about having to deal with this… eccentric man was making his head spin.

"That's a splendid idea, Soul Friend Number One!" Ryuuren exclaimed as he grinned widely. He pulled both Seiran and Shuurei along with him as he walked down the road. "Let's go! Let's go! I can't wait!" Shuurei couldn't help smiling at his eagerness while Seiran frowned in annoyance. His head was starting to hurt and he sighed, still clutching the bottle under his arm.


"An urgent letter for you, Your Majesty," an official said as he handed the slip of paper over to the emperor. Ryuuki gingerly opened it and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw who it was from.

My apologies. It seems that I cannot return to Kiyou at this time. There is another crisis in Ran Province. Apparently our attempt to suppress the revolts was only temporary. We have sent Ran Ryuuren to inform you of the details. We humbly request your aid.

Ran Jyuusan

Disturbed, the emperor set the letter down on his desk and folded it. He was baffled at the moment. He thought things had been going pretty well at Ran Province, but it seemed that he was wrong. He had heard that there was a revolt going on in result of higher taxes, but he was confident that the Ran family would be able to take care of that problem themselves. He didn't expect them to request his help.

"Find Ran Ryuuren and bring him to me," Ryuuki commanded as he slipped the letter into the drawer beside him. "The sooner the better."

"Yes, Your Majesty," his assistant said and silently left through the door. Ryuuki put his hand to his temple. He could feel a little warmth; he prayed that he wasn't going to become ill again. He needed to find Ryuuren quickly so that he could resolve this problem as soon as possible.

Suddenly, he thought of Shuurei underneath a blooming tree of cherry blossoms.

What? Why now?, he scolded himself. He had promised himself that he would not daydream of her anymore. After all, he had let her go. Yet, it seemed like yesterday when his hand had left hers.

Being an emperor… is truly a tedious job…, Ryuuki thought as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.


"Is the soup ready yet?" Shuurei asked as she walked over to Seiran's side of the kitchen, pulling up her sleeves. She took the ladle and scooped up some broth for a taste. "Ah, I think it's good!"

"I'll bring this to the dining table, Ojousama," Seiran said and carried the pot off the stove.

"That's a good idea! I bet Ryuuren's starving!" Shuurei replied as she hurried back to the cooking rice. Seiran answered with a fake smile and made his way to the dining room.

He didn't know how to comfort her. It was pathetic, really. Shuurei had come to him crying and he had just sat there and wiped her tears away. What else could he do? I'm pathetic, he thought as he tried to speculate what had happened that day that made her so sorrowful. The thing he hated most was to see her cry.

His feet began to drag on the ground when he suddenly felt listless. His vision blurred and he felt like he was out of balance. Suddenly before he knew it, he heard a crash and his head made painful contact with the ground.


"Seiran!"

He heard his name being called in the distance as everything turned black.

"Seiran!"

Damn. He had drunk too much again.

"Seiran!" Shuurei chided as she wrapped up the cuts on Seiran's hands. "You need to be more careful! I spent a lot of time making that soup!" For a second, Seiran's heart sunk. She cared more for the soup than for me? He was hurt, but he shook his discomfort away with a slight shake. "Stay still! It's hard to bandage you when you're moving around!" His bandaged head felt warm and heavy even though he was laying his head on a cold towel. His hands were full of cuts and he felt as if he had died and suddenly came back to life.

"Ojousama, I'm sorry," he replied groggily. "I'm sorry about the soup… you worked so hard…" At this, Shuurei laughed.

"I was kidding!" she said. "Did you really think I cared more for that soup? I can always cook up more soup, but I can never get myself another Seiran!" The young man's spirits suddenly lifted. Shouka walked up to him and observed him like a doctor.

"You should rest for a while, Seiran," he said. "We don't want you to overexert yourself." He placed an empty bottle on the table beside the bed and Seiran's eyes widened in shock.

How did he know?, the purple-haired warrior wondered as he eyed Shouka carefully. This isn't good… Suddenly the door slid open and a cheerful Ryuuren skipped inside.

"You're alright! You don't know how much I worried about you!" the talent of the Ran exclaimed more like a mother than a man. "To see you well now makes me so joyful!" He was about to play a song on his flute when, like a sudden reflex, Shouka covered the other end of his flute with his hand.

"Shuurei," the librarian said, turning his attention over to his daughter. "Would you go back to the kitchen and continue making dinner. I'm sure our guest here is very hungry. And Ryuuren-sama, would you like to wait in the dining room?" He stared back at Seiran now. "There is something Seiran and I have to talk about… alone…" The glare he was giving Seiran was more than enough to scare both Shuurei and Ryuuren away. Immediately, the two rushed out the door.

"Seiran," Shouka said gravely as he picked up the empty bottle he had set down earlier. "Would you kindly explain to me what this is?"

"It's a bottle," Seiran said bluntly and rolled over on his side so that he could avoid seeing his master's disappointed face.

"I'm… very disappointed in you, Seiran," he said, repeating the words the warrior knew that he would say. "What is troubling you so much that you must escape using alcohol?" He gripped the opening of the bottle and grabbed it so tightly as if he were strangling someone. "Drinking to the point that it is becoming harmful to your health is not acceptable. Do you hear me?" He cast his eyes over to the bed and glared at the warrior's back. "I said, 'Do you hear me?'" There were a few minutes of awkward silence.

"Yes, Danna-sama," Seiran replied a little reluctantly. This was the side of Shouka not many have seen before. Normally, he seemed like a carefree father who worked hard in order to support his daughter. But that was not the case. He was once an assassin whose eyes could almost pierce people's souls. His presence was one to be reckoned with.

"I do not wish to speak with you of this matter again," Shouka stated as he placed the bottle on the bed beside Seiran. "If there is a problem, you may confide in either Shuurei or me. I will not let my 'son' suffer in a false fantasy caused by liquor. Steal a bell with one's ears covered. Don't think I do not know what you are doing behind my back." With his stern words, he left the room.

Seiran was shocked. He had referred to him as a "son" instead of a servant. He closed his eyes as his head throbbed from the impact it had made with the ground earlier. He rolled around under the sheets and ran his fingers over the cold steel of the bottle.

"Son…" he whispered and repeated that word over and over again. For some reason, it made him feel slightly happier. He knocked the bottle over the bed and watched as it rolled to the corner of the room.


"Saya, can you bring me some tea?" the aquamarine-haired official asked as he worked diligently at his desk. However, he received no answer. "Saya." Still, no answer. "Saya!"

"Uh! Wha-!" Saya suddenly stood straight up and looked from left to right, her face a bright red. "What is it?"

"You actually fell asleep standing up?" Kouyuu said. "You never cease to amuse me with your ways."

"Oh, it's you," Saya replied sourly. "What do you want, Ri-sama?"

"Some tea, if you'd please," he answered surly. He could not mistake the bitterness in her voice. Neither of them could forget the night that they had argued. "Any longer and I'll probably die from dehydration."

"I'm going, I'm going," Saya said half-heartedly as she turned and exited through the doors. "Huh, you're so demanding sometimes…" Kouyuu had to use all his strength to prevent himself from leaping up. Sometimes she was just so stubborn, he couldn't handle it. A couple of minutes later, she returned with a tray full of tea.

"Here you go," she said with a rather annoyed tone. She set the teacup on his desk and moved on to the next desk. Kouyuu snatched the teacup and gulped down the tea ravenously. He had been parched and the tea felt-

He dropped the cup.

The noise of breaking china alarmed the other officials, but Kouyuu merely waved their attention away. The tea was bitter. Not just bitter, but extremely bitter. It was disgusting.

"Saya!" he shouted, infuriated. The servant headed quickly back to his desk. "What the heck did you put into my tea?" He glared angrily at the shattered china at his desk. Now he was wasting precious time in getting his work done. "Clean this mess up!"

"Yes, yes," Saya replied, tired of following orders all day today. With a cloth, she collected the broken shards and being her clumsy self, dropped a few on the ground. She bent to pick them up only to realize that red, swollen bumps had formed on her fingers. What? She didn't remember being allergic to anything and her skin was not very sensitive. For a moment, she was baffled, but the next noise she heard confirmed her fears.

With a shuddering cough, Kouyuu bent over and vomited all over the floor. Panic arose in the office and officials ran from across the room, screaming their vice-secretary's name. Saya stood motionless and watched helplessly at the gruesome scene before her. For some reason, she couldn't think and didn't know what to do.

He shook so hard. He fell to the ground and began to thrash about, making some of the most awful guttural sounds she had ever heard. Out of his mouth came globules of thick, crimson blood and his hands roamed crazily, desperately finding something to hang onto and control himself. He then began to tremble violently and cried out in a seizure-like state.

"What is this noise?! What happened?!" Reishin's voice boomed through the office.

"What's happening?!"

"Ri-dono's been poisoned!"

"Someone get a doctor, quick!"

"Move him to his chamber!"

Saya was horrified and became paralyzed in her spot. She suddenly remembered all the things she had said to him that night.

"May your path be overridden with red spider lilies…"

She watched as his once so stern golden eyes flashed in pain, horror, and need all at once. She watched as he fought himself, drenched in a pool of his own blood and vomit. She watched as his hands, his pale hands, reached out for salvation from his agony.

For a moment, she felt that she herself had poisoned him and was watching him die in front of her eyes.

"MOVE!!"

Saya was shoved aside by a blur of red and only after a while, did she realize that Reishin had come. He had abandoned his fan and kneeled at his dying son's side, screaming his name. He had lost all his composure, his sternness, and every other trait he was known for.

"KOUYUU! KOUYUU! KOUYUU!!"

Suddenly, as if a revelation occurred, he stood up and grabbed Saya by the collar.

"You! YOU!!" he cried madly. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SON?!!" Before she could answer, a group of officials stormed in along with the doctor.

"Reishin-dono," Tou-sensei said as calmly as he could, "move him to his chambers. I will treat him there." The Kou head released Saya and headed towards Kouyuu. "Quickly now. We do not have much time."

What have I done?


A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I really want to thank all of you for all your support! Yes, my rate of writing has exponentially decreased, but I'm sure it'll be back up again once I have more time.

As for the storyline, I'm tried to be as secretive as possible on what would happen to Kouyuu. Originally, I hadn't planned to poison him, but I had an urge to add something traumatic in. I'm not very good with gruesome scenes so please bear with me!

Thank you again and please review!