Nataku was an observer. He observed the adults around him, and hated them. Everything about them tells him of their motives, and how they would use him. He swore that he would never grow up to be like them, ever. He hates them. Even in a party like this, where no one looks at him and expects him to kill in their name, where everyone laughs and talks, he still hates them when they look at him.

Everyone, except one, of course… Ryurei, the Dragon-Princess, Gojun's sister, gives him flowers whenever he goes down to the Lower Realms, even in the presence of Li Touten, his father. Her sapphire eyes spoke to him with kindness and he quickly befriended her. She knows that he loves the red carnations most, and so, she gives him some every time they meet.

He does not know it, but many fear her as much as they fear him. The Key of Life, she was also known as, blessed with an untold and unseen amount of power, she was ordered never to join the Heavenly Army, despite her heritage as a Dragon of the Western Oceans, as its Princess. Given the task to care for the flowers of Heaven and Earth, she seemed to be content with her position. But Nataku always knew that Ryurei-nee would smile the brightest of smiles, and that night was no different.

There she stood, in bejeweled gowns of silk. She was talking to one of the military officers, holding a glass of red wine as she usually did, and Nataku realized the presence of another that made her head turn: A tall man with shoulder length hair and emerald eyes hidden behind his glasses. The Toushin Taishi knows this man to be Tenpou Gensui, Gojun's subordinate. They share a glance, and soon, Ryurei walked away from the officer she had been talking to, bowing before she took her leave.

Nataku's golden eyes followed the two of them to a secluded corner of the hall. And that was where he found Ryurei's smile to be more radiant than ever. The man holds her in his arms, and for a moment there, Nataku almost summoned his broadsword into his hands, until he saw her embrace him in return. Funny, he would never even guess that they would know each other that… intimately. Would that mean that Tenpou Gensui and Ryurei were a couple?

They whisper quietly, never leaving one another. Nataku knows that Gojun saw them, but the Dragon-King pretended to have not done so, and thus, he did the same. Heh, it would be a good tool to blackmail Ryurei-nee the next time he saw her.

"Good luck," Ryurei said to the young Toushin Taishi the morning he was to depart to the Lower Realms to subdue Gyumaoh, the Youkai with powers so great that only the Heavenly Armies could stop him. She knew his wife, Rasetsunyo, and his son, Kougaiji, and she knew that they would be only innocent victims of his evil, but she did not say a word. It was not her place to, or so it was decreed. Smiling, she gave him the customary red carnation and hugged him. In her gardens, Nataku did not need to act like an adult, there; he could remain a child that he was.

Nataku took the carnation and thanked her. "Don't worry, I'll make it alive so I can play with the new kid, and make sure that your boyfriend Tenpou Gensui does not bully you," he told Ryurei, grinning widely. What was a Youkai going to do to him? He may be the "killing puppet" of Heaven, but still, he had the power to earn that disgusting name, and he was not ready to lose to some upstart human-eating Youkai yet. There were still things he had to do, more important things.

Ryurei's eyes widened. "Nataku, do not spread word of that to anyone," she told him in a hushed voice. "Keep it to only yourself. Tenpou is a brilliant man, but I fear for him. Even if he keeps a low profile, he still has many enemies." Her voice was stern this time, and Nataku at once knew that she was serious. She was never like that to him, not even when he played the worst pranks on everyone. Taking his silence as understanding, she smiled and said, "Thank you for understanding, child."

But he did not. Scratching his head, he asked, "But, if he's really your boyfriend, then why do you have to be afraid of his enemies, Ryurei-nee? He can fight, and so can you!" Oh yes, there were many times when they would sneak out from the Palace of Heaven where they would spar with one another underneath green trees. He knew that she was an accomplished fighter, and he had never clearly won a match against her yet.

Chuckling, Ryurei did not speak any further of the matter. "You will know when you are older, Nataku," she told him, hugging him once more. "Now, run along, your armies wait for you, Toushin Nataku Taishi." Nataku looked up at her, and found her usual smile. He did not know that it was forced. He was still a child, after all.

Still a child, and yet, forced to bear a fate what strong adults could not… She had come from a line of Toushin Taishi, and now, this child was bearing the same burden as her ancestors had borne. He leaves her garden, and looks back, smiling. "I'll see you when I get back!" he exclaimed, waving her good-bye, not knowing what fate was before him.

If all of them could have seen what was to pass, perhaps, their choices would have been different.