Chapter XI : Of Emperors, Knights and Priestesses
"But we don't have passports !"
"Declare yourselves and present your passports! If you fail to provide the passports you will be detained for further paperwork." the warden said dispassionately, not bothering to glance at the ordinary cart full of passengers. Hundreds of people, merchants, tourists, drifters of all kinds passed the borders of Kutoh everyday and the novelty of his job as a doorman had worn off long ago. He stood reading the list at hand, waiting for the travelers to comply.
Shinji, the newly-minted officer, was the first to hand out his papers. Miaka glanced back at their third companion, resisting the urge to shrug at him helplessly. Nakago was treating the matter with his habitual apathy. The man simply looked at ease , anywhere.
Seeing her staring at him, he shrugged his shoulders instead and provided a completely blasé reply. "It's their job."
The warden peered at the back of the carriage to find a young man, with foreign features reclining casually on the few pieces of luggage.
"Name and occupation?" he called out.
" Nakago...Seiryu no seishi, Nakago ."
Miaka watched in comic horror as Shinji turned white as a sheet and several of the soldiers stepped away from the carriage, looking surprised and frightened out of their wits.
"I am here to seek an audience with the Emperor," drawled the former Shogun calmly, seemingly oblivious to the reactions he was getting from the soldiers.
Ayuru smirked to himself as the small group of soldiers parted immediately to make way for their carriage.
"Carry on, officer," he said lightly to Shinji, who sat rooted to his spot, apparently unable to move. His hands held the horses' reigns in a death grip and his knuckles had turned white.
"Yes sir!" said the boy after a while, coming back to his senses but not daring to look back.
Thanks to the mild uproar the former Seiryu seishi had caused at the gates of Kutoh, the journey from the borders to the main palace had been an extremely quick one. As they made their way through the streets of the capital, people dropped everything to get out of the way and make way for their cart. Their curious faces, tinted with apprehension was enough to make Miaka squirm uncomfortably in her seat. She was used to random people who stared at her. Being the Suzaku no Miko, made you very conspicuous. But the stares they were getting now, were considerably different. Most people averted their eyes as soon as she glanced at them. Several members of the populace had even kowtowed on the streets when their cart had passed by. Their servile manner and fearful countenance left nothing to the imagination about what the people thought of their former Shogun. It was a forgone conclusion that Nakago was as much a terror to them as he had been to her and the Suzaku seishi. And any one else, who knew him in general.
Miaka felt a bit uneasy when she reflected about how distinctly mild-mannered, the modern day Economics professor had been in comparison. And how many times she had called him a jackass, that too, to his face. It was lucky he was inclined to be so relaxed, this time around. An image of a very well-fed tiger,reclining lazily on a tree, came unbidden to her mind. The representation suited him completely. The swishy tail made her snort.
"You will kneel and show your respects , if you wish to seek an audience with His Imperial Highness," A middle aged man, probably the current chief adviser, bit out smugly, too confident in the knowledge that the dozen or so sentries present in the court room were sufficient to handle any adverse situation that might arise.
Apparently, the rest of the imperial court did not agree with his sentiments. The handful of courtiers present in the hall were busy shooting concealed but frantic looks towards all available exits as Ayuru raised a mocking eyebrow in answer, the tell tale smirk playing lightly on his face.
Miaka took the time to look around the ornate throne room of the current Emperor of Kutoh. She remembered meeting Shoukitei,the former Emperor inside these same walls, a few years ago. That had been a forgettable experience. Not much had changed since then, except for an addition of a curtain of veils which separated the Imperial throne from the gaze of its subjects.
She looked speculatively at the veil for a few seconds. They were going to be here for sometime, she knew. The ministers had another thing coming, if they were waiting for Nakago to pay his respects.
A small face peered from around the veil. It sent a fleeting glance at the scene that was playing inside the room, before scooting back inside. And everything happened so quickly, that Miaka was almost sure she had imagined the whole thing.
The chief minister took another step forward, fully prepared to launch another verbal attack at the intruders when a small but distinct cough,emanated from the veiled throne.
The courtiers straightened instantly as the middle aged adviser recovered his countenance to declare in a very magnanimous voice that His Highness will now speak.
The gauze veils parted. And behold, there stood a young boy, not older than thirteen or fourteen.
He was dressed in royal regalia and with the small crown atop his head, he looked every inch the monarch of a country. Miaka had to hold back a smile when she saw the little boy, trying his best to stand still and not fidget. He was cute.
The boy looked directly at the blonde man standing a few feet away from him. He didn't recognize the smiling,petite brunette next to the stoic warrior but having learnt his country's history under his teachers he was well aware of the events that had happened a few years back. It had been a life changing event for him as well. Before he had been a simple boy, living in a village with his young but widowed mother. Then one day, he suddenly became the Emperor of a nation. He didn't understand how or why he was picked,his mother had glossed over that every time the subject was broached. But he was a bit eager to do a good job, nonetheless.
Which is why, when he stood in front of the Seiryu no seishi Nakago, whose infamy was widespread, his hands didn't shake all that much. Even though, the speech was a bit halting.
"I am Emperor Seireitei of Kutoh," announced the boy, looking directly at the stern profile of the blonde warrior before him, " And if the Seiryu no seishi Nakago, wishes to benefit from the friendship Kutoh can offer, it is in his best interest to abide by our court etiquette while he is our guest."
Emperor Seireitei, or Rei-kun as his mother fondly called him, wanted to swallow very badly. His eyes shifted briefly to the brunette standing next to the man and he was a bit taken aback by her smile. Her eyes were glowing, it was the same expression his mother gave him sometimes when he had done particularly well in something or the other. It made him want to smile back at the woman.
Now there were very few things which surprised Gi Ayuru, deputy chairman of Suzuki enterprises. Even during his lifetime as Nakago, he had derived pleasure in manipulating and predicting human behavior. That particular hobby had carried on in this life time as well.
So when a little boy, who was less then half of his age probably, stood his ground and gave that speech, in a room full of men who were conspicuously afraid of the former Shogun, Ayuru was visibly taken aback.
But that lasted for about two seconds. Smirking to himself, he nodded at the boy and sank down on one knee. He kept his head up and the collective gasps which escaped all the seasoned courtiers in the room , were truly comical, he noted with wry amusement. Beside him, he distinctly heard the Suzaku no Miko say, " Woah!"
Then he addressed the boy as seriously as he could. "My greetings to the Emperor. The Suzaku no Miko and myself are here to retrieve the Shinzaho of Seiryu. We request your cooperation in the matter. The artifact will be returned as soon as we are done with our quest."
"Absolutely out of the question!" started the middle aged adviser, with finality and barely concealed contempt.
But the boy emperor cut him off again, earning a smirk from the reticent Seiryu seishi. Thus far, Seireitei, as Emperor had shown greater promise in five minutes than Shoukitei had managed to show in his entire life time.
"The Shinzaho," the boy continued, keeping his eyes trained on the kneeling blonde man, " is a precious heirloom and a national treasure of our country. It is cherished by our people. Why do you need it?"
Ayuru's mouth quirked a little at the the solemn young lord. The boy's determination and frank courage was almost endearing. And eerily familiar. With a start, he realized, that the young emperor of Kutoh, was much like the petite brunette standing next to him in that aspect. Both were courageous, sometimes to the point of being foolhardy. In a past life, he had diligently scorned idealism like that. He was surprised to see that now he treated this behavior with amusement and almost with fondness. Perhaps the Suzaku no miko was growing on him, after all.
This time, it was Miaka who broke into the conversation.
"Excuse me, er- Your Highness," she said, " I am the Suzaku no miko, from Konan. Nakago-umm-Sama, has agreed to help me in my quest to defeat Tenkou, an evil deity who had...has malicious intentions towards all our kingdoms. We need the Shinzaho so that we may summon Suzaku and free Seiryu who has been sealed. So that, err- the Gods can help us defeat this..eto- evil deity."
The Suzaku no miko was worse than the child Emperor when it came to giving speeches, Ayuru noted sarcastically , but kept the thought to himself.
"The Suzaku no miko," cut in the adviser, once again, with his eyes narrowed and his face crumpled into a frown, "has departed this world some time ago."
"And now she is back,"Miaka tried to smile nicely at the middle-aged adviser, curbing the urge to hit him with something for his repeated interference and pompous attitude.
The adviser then turned to the boy standing in front of the the curtains, on the dais.
"Your highness," he said, his voice dripping with condescension, " You cannot pay heed to such baseless claims with out properly analyzing their merits-"
"Pardon me, for speaking out of turn, minister," Ayuru finally got up, having exhausted the amount of patience he had set aside to deal with this meaningless charade, "As a seishi of Seiryu, I have every right to appoint myself as a temporary guardian of the Shinzaho, till it exhausts its usefulness for us. I humbly ask this court, once again, for its co-operation, before I am forced to resort to more expedient means to get what I want."
It was a very polite threat. And the courtiers knew it , as even the pompous chief adviser, took a step backwards.
"You don't mind me thinking over the matter a bit more, do you?" piped a small voice from the dais.
Miaka looked at Nakago's face just in time to see a vein ticking near his temple, as the man glanced back at the boy emperor. He was angry, she could tell, and probably was planning to chi-blast the wretched adviser in the near future. The only thing stopping him from doing just that now, was probably the child standing on the dais. The knowledge fascinated her. But then again, she knew so little about the man and her ideas of him were so woefully two-dimensional , that any little thing she discovered was of huge interest.
She felt him relax beside her, as the tension and rigidity left his taut profile.
"Feel free to think over it. But the danger is close at hand and we are short of time. I hope you will come to a decision by evening," The erstwhile Shogun drawled with forced calmness.
"Of course," The young emperor nodded, barely able to keep a serious countenance as his features sagged with relief, " Till then please make yourselves comfortable here."
"Where, do you think you're going?" Ayuru frowned at the teenaged Suzaku no Miko who had been following him ever since their audience with the Emperor ended. He was trying to get back to his old room and he had hoped she would take a hint and go somewhere else.
The miko had been tailing him while her mind had been in an entirely different planet. So when he stopped suddenly, she almost ran into his back. Confused, the brunette sent a blank look towards her reticent tour guide. "I'm going wherever you're going," she said, "Can't I?"
He considered her for a few seconds. While it was very refreshing to meet such utterly guileless and simple people, sometimes, having to spell out everything for their benefit, was a truly uninviting and odious task.
"I am going to my old quarters," he stated plainly, with the impatience of someone who has been given the task of baby-sitting a particularly willful three year old, " I don't want you there."
"Wow, you're a hostile jerk," she said petulantly, taken aback by his bluntness.
"And the fact that I murdered half of your seishi before, wasn't convincing enough for you," he answered drolly, as silver-blue eyes flashed with barely concealed ire.
Predictably, the miko went as white as paper. And then headed in the opposite direction without another word.
Ayuru stepped inside the last room in the eastern wing of the palace. His room. Despite his stern control over his feelings, not even Seiryu could have stopped the little somersault his heart did, the moment his eyes landed on the all-too-familiar surroundings.
The room was there, exactly as he had left it. It was unnerving.
Standing on the threshold, the former warrior let his eyes trail slowly over the sparsely furnished room. Never had his two lifetime's stood out in stark contrast to each other more than they did now.
The quarters belonging to the former Shogun had a distinctly Spartan appearance. The small study area which held an inconspicuous looking table on which Nakago had toiled night after night, in sleepless pursuit of the perfect plan, the plain looking bed which had been put to use only when absolutely necessary and the even more common-looking wardrobe. It was hard to believe that such an austere and almost poor-looking room had belonged to the Shogun of a country. In his mind, he knew the answer to that. Of course, as Shogun he had been entitled to have the best money could afford. But he had never had the inclination to turn that room inside the Emperor's palace into a home. Nakago had treated the room with the same indifference he had treated everything else : it's sole purpose was to be of use. Anything else would have been a luxury. And that was why, once upon a time, the second most influential man in Kutoh, had chosen to live as an ordinary commoner inside the palace. In his desire for revenge, he had stopped himself from adding anything to the room that might have made it comfortable. He had wanted to reject everything Kutoh and its Emperor stood for.
On retrospect, he realized with a dry smile, he had made a fool out of himself. After everything was said and done, the relentless Shogun of Kutoh was only over-worked, under-paid and eventually defeated.
In comparison, he surmised, his present life was a piece of cake and the penthouse suites he generally stayed in, looked like an Empress' boudoir.
"Don't you like your room?"
Ayuru turned around to find the boy Emperor standing in the corridor with a perplexed look on his face.
"Aren't you supposed to be in the meeting about that important, time-sensitive matter, I talked about?" He questioned the young lord, with a little hint of amusement in his voice.
The child blanched and then shrugged.
"My decision was already made, but they need to talk about it more," he said matter-of-factly. Now that he was no longer in the court room, his speech was less guarded and more frank. Childish, even.
Ayuru stared at the boy for a few seconds. The rich , brown hair,the soft childish countenance and light brown eyes indicated nothing but frankness and sincerity. The boy held no family resemblance with his predecessor.
Both of them fell silent. Ayuru suspected the boy had sought him out only out of courtesy and was now probably looking for an escape route without seeming too obvious about it. He had to admire the young Lord's courage. But he wanted to see how far that naïve ideal would take the child.
"Would you like to come in?" Ayuru said smoothly, pinning the boy with one of his patented flat ,scrutinizing gazes.
The young lord started and hastily searched the tall man's features before speaking plainly, "Is it safe?"
The childish simplicity almost made him laugh. This boy was more suited for the role of a poster child for Suzaku's ideals than for that of an Emperor to a nation such as Kutoh.
"That, I leave to your judgement," drawled Ayuru evenly, baiting the boy further.
When after some time, the boy made no move, Ayuru offered further, " I have no weapons."
The statement was met with an impish grin from the young royal, "I am told, you don't need any."
With that, the child stepped inside the room and headed straight to the plain bed, wherein he flopped down in a very un-regal manner.
Resisting the urge to shake his head at the proceedings, the former Shogun smirked and followed suit, choosing to sink, a tad bit more gracefully, in a chair instead.
"You're really here to save our kingdom?" The child asked, without further preamble. His wide, light brown eyes were teeming with hope. Obviously, he was still too young to know about the advantages of a poker-face.
"The Suzaku no Miko is here to do that," Ayuru said, frowning slightly at the enthusiasm , the young lord was trying to white-wash his image with, " I am here to aid her in the process."
"That's good," the boy looked up, beaming, " The Suzaku no miko smiled at me in the court room. I think she was encouraging me to say what I wanted to say. I like her."
Perhaps it was the childish frankness that had disarmed him, or perhaps it was something else altogether. But the former Shogun of Kutoh was surprised when he heard himself admitting, voluntarily, "I like her too." Conditions apply, he added silently in his mind.
Obviously the statement was too spontaneous for his liking and he was going to make sure the Suzaku no miko never heard it.
Nodding sagely, the boy Emperor looked at the ex-Shogun with expectant eyes, "But the Suzaku no miko would want to protect her own country more. If something happens to Kutoh, would you want to save us?"
It was an oddly perceptive question coming from a child. But given Nakago's infamy, it was probably not all that odd.
"I know you don't like our country all that much," the child added, as an afterthought.
"What makes you say that?" the blonde Shogun asked of the child Emperor in a deceptively, quiet voice.
"Well you killed the last Emperor and destroyed the palace..." the child shrugged and lapsed into uncertain silence.
Biting back a wry smile at the childish bluntness, Ayuru chose to question the child instead, "Are you related to the former Emperor?"
"He was my father," came the reply, " I am told."
Again silence.
"Why did you hate him?"
Ayuru smirked. Here was a question that begged answering, a snide voice at the back of mind commented.
"Your father, like every one else, was not a perfect man. Neither am I, for that matter. We... had our differences," he said shortly.
He thought I was a girl and I didn't think so, his inner voice supplied.
Whatever his feelings for the previous Emperor or his regime may have been, a part of him was secretly glad his soldiers had failed to carry out his last order to perfection. But then again, if the boy was even thirteen now, it was a miracle how no one had even known during the lifetime of Shoukitei, that he had indeed sired an heir. And a really perceptive one at that. Ayuru suspected the old letch himself probably had no idea either. Which was just as well.
"Will you, though?" a hopeful voice, dragged Ayuru out of his musings.
"Will I, what?"
"Save Kutoh, when the time comes?" the hopeful voice repeated it's earlier question.
Ayuru looked quietly at the solemn young Lord who had walked into his old room ,despite the latter's misgivings. The boy was undoubtedly brave and held a lot of good qualities, which was a surprise given his lineage and surroundings.
But despite the fact that he felt no animosity towards this slip of a boy who he had just met, Ayuru had no answer to the boy's question. It was true he no longer harbored the burning need to destroy the country which had mercilessly broken his spirit, a life time ago. But ever since he had set foot into the Shijintenchisho , he had resolved to remain neutral. Besides, saving countries was more along the miko's line of business.
"I will try not to disappoint you," he said , looking at the young boy sitting on the bed. He did not know what made him say it. It was a roundabout way of avoiding the child's question but at the same time, he found he didn't mind saying it either way. The Suzaku no miko and her nauseatingly idealistic seishi were probably going to have a field day if they heard him now.
Smiling brightly, the boy stood up, "That's good enough for me."
After Seireitei left, Ayuru remained seated in his chair. Weirdly enough, conversing with a child had actually eased a part of him that had turned restless the moment he had entered Kutoh.
The irony of having to be reincarnated in order to save the same world he had wanted to destroy, was not a pleasant topic to deal with.
He reached out with a bored expression, to open one of the lowers drawers in the mahogany table. The meeting was not likely to be adjourned any time soon and he had loads of time to spare, albeit unwillingly. All the drawers were stacked with sheaths of neatly stacked parchments he had no desire to go through. But he found something else he had quite forgotten about.
A faded, scarlet ribbon. It had been placed carefully towards the far end of the upper right drawer. It had been Soi's. Extracting it, he eyed the delicate material for a few seconds before pocketing it slowly.
It's a pity Nakago had learned to value his life only after he had lost it.
As it is, struggling with memories and feelings of two life time's was no walk in the park.
It had all happened in an instant. Just as the last breath had left the body of the proud, defeated Shogun, Gi Ayuru had felt realization flood through his conscious seamlessly, as if someone had just turned the lights on. It had been electrifying, enlightening and poignant.
He remembered that moment all too well, because it had also been the one and only case of a semi-goof up during a board meeting, in his otherwise stellar career.
15th April, Copenhagen 12:30 pm
That had been the last morning of his life, when he recognized himself as just Ayuru, only son of first generation Japanese, immigrant father Gi Kiritsugu and all-American Connecticut-born Sue Parker. He had grown up in Connecticut, as Kiritsugu preferred the sedate country life of his wife's hometown.
The day had started out like any other. He woke up at 7 o' clock in the morning and left the usual voice mail on his parents' land line for the benefit of his mother who insisted that no calls from her only offspring meant that he was surely lying comatose in some hospital, having suffered a terrible road accident. At ten, that sort of smothering motherly love was endearing but at twenty-five it was infinitely less so. Hence, the voice mail.
He was representing the Suzuki group in Denmark to negotiate on an important business deal with the international pharmaceutical giant Lundbeck. The meeting had gone reasonably fine and the associates gathered at the table responded well to the presentation. That is, till the memories of an entire lifetime had chosen to resurface. For one horrible, gut wrenching second,all the righteous anger, despair, and bittersweet acceptance that had defined the last moment's of Nakago's life had overwhelmed Ayuru completely. He felt Nakago live and die within him, in the space of a single breath. Only years of professional discipline had stopped him from closing his eyes and resting his overworked head on the table as the businessmen around him discussed the futures of their two companies. His mind, however, was hopelessly lost.
"What do you think, Mr. Gi?"
The guy had to repeat his question three times before Ayuru heard him.
"Your final vote on this proposal?"
Ayuru stared at the man's face in vain, hoping the latter would elaborate further. His own mind had shut down on him and he had no idea what the proposal was.
"I think, I would like more time to meditate on it," he managed to prevaricate with a straight face.
The entire board in the room consisted of twelve people including himself and as soon as he replied, eleven faces turned to him in acute surprise.
Till someone finally elaborated, "It's your proposal. You came up with it."
Oh.
"Then naturally, I vote for the motion." It took a lot of effort at this point to maintain a curt and composed facade.
Later that night, he returned to his penthouse suite , tired and drained, only to find Emiko waiting for him. It had been an eventful month for her as well. Her second child had been born on the first week of the month, on the same day that the exploits of her philanderer husband had made it to the front page of every newspaper in Japan. But it was a tribute to her indomitable spirit, that she breezed through every scandal with all the elegance and finesse of a geisha at a tea ceremony.
"How would you feel, if you knew, I may have been a murderer in my past life?" he asked her bluntly. The floor-to-ceiling glass wall provided a magnificent, bird eye view of the entire city.
She got up from the large bed, and sashayed across the room, a half empty bottle wine of dangling loosely from one hand and a decanter from the other. If clothes did indeed make a man, the stunning brunette was very easily proving the proverb wrong by managing to look as regal as an empress, whilst wearing just a bed sheet and little else.
"Does it matter?" she smirked coquettishly from under heavily hooded eyes, " In your next life you could be an adorable Koala bear, does it mean you should start living on bamboo trees now?"
"Your point?" he asked, raising his eyes at the very imaginative illustration.
Dragging him to the couch, she straddled his lap, trailing languid kisses along the front of his open shirt , till his mind filled up with thoughts of an entirely different nature.
"Life is too short to waste time looking back or looking too far ahead," she said after a while,halting her ministrations.
"Should I not regret my misconducts at all then?" he asked her,gently tugging at the Egyptian silk sheet, "You're setting a bad example for your son."
"Regretting gets you nowhere," she said, as the pearly-white sheets pooled around her slim waist, " The least you can do, is not make the same mistakes twice."
"I will keep that in mind," he acknowledged simply,drawing her close.
"It's a pity the doctors say no strenuous activity for two months. Takes half the joy of childbirth away, if you ask me." Emiko's flippant attitude towards every thing had been the perfect therapy, at the time.
"How kind of you, to tell me that now."
The brunette laughed and held up the bottle of wine,"May I tempt you with some vintage Auslese instead?"
Eventually the day had ended on a memorable note. For the first time in months, he had actually called up his mother and conversed about nothing for an entire hour. Hearing her voice had been comforting. And also, relenting a little to her feelings assuaged him somewhat of the guilt of being helpless to protect another loving parent , a lifetime ago...
Miaka roamed around the grounds aimlessly. It felt nice to wander about the halls of the palace without having to worry about death or possible loss of limbs, as had been the norm formerly.
She had not seen hide nor hair of the former Seiryu general since he had rudely shaken her off his trail a few hours ago.
It was aggravating how the man steadfastly refused to let her glimpse so much as a miniscule scrap of his mind or his feelings but had no qualms reading her inside out when it suited him. One of these days she was determined to shake the truth out of him, even if it killed her. Literally.
She was headed towards the paved training grounds in the southern part of the palace, when a very curious sight caught her attention.
Catching her breathe, she slid back in the shadows of a nearby pillar. An extremely familiar tall, blonde ex-shogun was apparently deep in sword-training. Miaka watched with unbridled fascination as her former enemy swung the sword around in a series of complex movements. He was slow, as if he were remembering each technique as he practiced. And his pants were funny. The former general was wearing just an ivory Sashinuki Hakama whose 'ballooning' appearance was clearly hampering his usual formal-suits style. But despite the weird pants, it was hard to not admire the sinuous grace with which he executed his movements. The general stood with his back turned towards her and the dying rays of the sun reflected off his golden hair and sweat-glistened body with devastating effect. Her eyes traveled down his torso involuntarily, taking in the rippling musculature along his shoulder blades , his narrow waist and the long legs. Well developed biceps which were usually hidden under overpriced shirts flexed and relaxed gracefully. For an unrepentant ex-mass murderer, he was a bit too handsome.
"The adage 'Once bitten, twice shy' clearly holds no effect over you."
And here's the exemplary manners to complete the pretty picture, Miaka thought wryly, rolling her eyes.
His back was still turned towards her and he had stopped parrying with the sword, but obviously, the former general had sensed her presence. He had probably known she was there all along.
Coming out of her hiding place from behind the pillar, the priestess of Suzaku met the leader of the Seiryu seishi with a dry smirk that matched his own.
"Balloon pants are not for you," she said, "And if I believed in idioms, I would also have to believe that leopards don't change their spots. You can't pick and choose."
"Because you have been so trusting of me, lately," he said flatly, pinning her with a hard blue gaze.
"I have been as trusting of you as you have been frank to me," Miaka said evenly.
Sheathing his sword, the former general turned to regard the petite Suzaku no Miko with part frank exasperation and part veiled amusement. In all their time as enemies, he had known very well how adamant and hard-nosed the miko was capable of being once she decided on something. But her obsession with his past was beginning to annoy him. Slightly.
"Can you not just, let it go?" his voice indicated he was at the end of his patience where this matter was concerned.
Of course subtlety bounced off her like a basketball.
"No."
"I don't inquire about what you did in kindergarten," he countered.
Call it intuition, but Miaka knew that finally she had managed to make a little chink in the barrier.
Raising her eyebrows at him, she spoke with mocking confidence. "Whatever I did in kindergarten, fortunately had no effect on the surrounding landscapes and population. The same can't be said for you."
Pausing, she looked at the tall man straight in the eye as her demeanor changed. Gone was the flighty teenager who wore her heart on her sleeves. Standing before Ayuru now, was the chosen priestess of Suzaku.
"I demand to know," she said fearlessly, her voice full of calm authority, "why your plans affected me so much."
They stood still, weighing each other, as if in a staring contest.
"Nakago-sama, the Emperor is ready to receive you in the shrine of Seiryu."
A random attendant bowed low, oblivious to the tension that was brimming in the atmosphere.
The resultant extra wide smirk that had erupted on the obnoxious Seiryu general's features at the sudden interruption had been nowhere near as priceless as the angry scowl that overspread the countenance of the priestess of the God of love.
"We shouldn't keep the Emperor waiting," the ex-Shogun said to the priestess, with a perfectly straight face, clearly enjoying the latter's discomfiture.
Miaka scowled angrily at the much taller man. "Don't think this is over."
Dismissing the attendant with a curt wave of his hand, the former Seiryu seishi turned towards the disappointed priestess. Miaka had to keep her anger from evaporating as her all-too-handsome arch nemesis strode towards her with the confident gait of a man of power. The muscles in his toned abdomen rippled with every movement. Alarm and guilt bit at her ferociously as she suddenly realized that instead of dutifully hating and distrusting Nakago like she was supposed to be doing, she had been unconsciously admiring her former enemy's physique instead. What would Tamahome think, he if could take a look at her mind right now? Mortification swept through her soul at the very thought.
"And take a bath," she said hastily, turning away from him before his physique did permanent psychological damage to her mind. "You stink !"
"Someone's in a hurry to get me out of my clothes," came a mocking , deep voice from behind her. It had her grinding her teeth together in frustration.
Jackass.
Shaking her head at him in mock disappointment, the Suzaku no miko swept past the Seiryu warrior without another word and headed for the shrine of azure dragon. Her despicable, ill-mannered companion, could follow at his own leisure.
Hello xDD
Thank you for the reviews Dessert Rennaissance,Honey, Bobby, Jacky, Glady, Zoeyn, Lili and Sin of the Fallen. You guys rock xD
Questions:
What all so interests Emiko?
Emiko's interests? I have no idea XD But I can tell you what she is like as a person, strong, independent and filthy rich xD Her relationship with Nakago is mostly : friends with benefits
Is it history Miaka & Nakago , or Nakago and Emiko? ( The additional questions were answered in the previous chapter)
Well Nakago has a history with Emiko here I guess. But the story is eventually Miaka x Nakago xD
This site needs more Nakago love.
You bet!
This story inspired me to write about Miaka and Nakago
Yay ! That couple has so much potential, I hope more people would write on them xD
There is always a past/personal story/current life about each character which everyone wants to know about. Doesn't Miaka have a right to know about Nakago's past?
An excellent point. About Nakago's current life, well I have been trying to add little things here and there for you to get a glimpse of how he lives now. But for the time being that he is in the book,exploring his social life would be difficult. We'll touch more on that in the sequel(s) or probably towards the end of this story if and when they both return from their adventures alive.
For the second question, it bothered me too for a while about why Nakago continuously discourages Miaka from knowing about his past. The answer, that came to me suddenly is, because he is a very proud person. And his past, kind of puts him in a very helpless, weak, victimized light ( even though its not his fault). Now, proud people or anyone I guess, would have trouble talking about a past like this because it makes them appear weak in front of others. No one wants to own up that they have been a rape victim, right? A lot of criminals who take part in events like this walk away free because the victims are too ashamed to come out and seek help. And on top of it, look who Nakago has to answer to. Miaka, who in his mind, is just a clumsy teenager who got lucky. Talking to her about his past would be more humiliating for him till he begins to treat her as a worthy adversary/opponent or even as an equal.
I guess this journey will be an inner struggle for Nakago because he has to learn how to embrace/accept his past without it affecting his proud persona. Probably he will himself tell it to Miaka someday, but on his own terms and at a time of his own choosing.
And you're right, this will happen later in the story, but only when Nakago himself chooses to speak on his own. Miaka won't be able to coax it out of him, hell will freeze over before Nakago lets a teenager manipulate him I guess.
Does that make sense? XDD
Well, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well. Don't forget to leave reviews.
And now I'll go to sleep xD
-goes to upload and sees another review-
Flashyfirebird : LOL hello ,welcome back btw xDD -dies at the mention of crappy editing- =\ I am definitely going to look into it though. Tomorrow. xD I think I read about Lady T being mention as the Overseer somehwhere. Meh, but you get the idea xD I forget where I got the Shakespeare inspiration from now, but definitely not school =\ all I learn there is the simple fact that I am really hopeless at C++ xD You're spot on about my interests however. I literally have to drag myself through other scenes. It's a bad habit xDD