Anchor

Written by: RinoaDestiny

#40 – Crumbs and Dictionaries

He'd just slid on his shoes when Saisyu approached him by the entranceway, keeping close to the raised steps but remaining on the floor below. His father cleared his throat, removed one hand from within his sleeve and made a casual gesture. "Before you leave, you may want to know Shingo's asking about you."

Benimaru's heads-up had prepared him, so Kyo expected this sooner or later. Adjusting the canvas bag's strap around his shoulder, he then responded to Saisyu. "Guess he misses me?"

"You're hardly around anymore, so he'll like to catch up."

"I'm not gonna be around during Golden Week."

Saisyu didn't react – it wasn't a surprise anymore, considering where he spent most of his free time. "Shingo has a training session two days after Golden Week. Will you be available that day? You can speak to him before or after the training."

"After." Telling him before was probably going to dampen Shingo's spirit and ruin the session afterwards. He'd been warned to be nice to him. "I'll stay home that day."

"Good. I'll let him know."

Kyo nodded. "Are you and Mom going to bring back anything?" Usually, his parents brought back specialties from their trips like food, trinkets, or specific shrine talismans. Occasionally, his mother would even buy a new kimono or accessory that wasn't available in Osaka.

"Maybe. Would you and Yagami like anything?"

The inclusion of Iori surprised him; yet, it showed how accustomed his dad was to them now. "A charm for good luck? Prosperity?"

"We'll get both. I'll get one for your improving studies."

"Haha." Saisyu probably wasn't joking and Kyo was in earnest regarding his lessons with Iori, since they were actually interesting. "Good thing I'm not taking exams."

"Some divine help from Tenjin never hurts."

Kyo snorted, which got a hearty chuckle from Saisyu. "Tenjin has other prayers to listen to." Students cramming for the national entrance exam for admittance to colleges always took priority over one self-vouched slacker. "He can try, though."

His dad shook his head at his irreverence, but kept his grin. "Just because you're a Sacred Treasure doesn't mean you don't need the gods. In this case, I'll be interceding on your behalf. Maybe I should also pray that Yagami becomes a worthy teacher."

That got another snort from Kyo.

His father chuckled again and gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. "I've held you up long enough. Enjoy your time today, son."

He returned Saisyu's grin, readjusted the bag he carried and then descended the steps towards outside and his ultimate destination.

"What are you reading now?" Kyo leaned over Iori's shoulder, for his boyfriend was surrounded by multiple volumes of their gathered chronicles. The old clothbound books formed stacks on Iori's desk, dust motes visible above them. He poked at Iori with a wrapped pastry, cellophane making a crisp crinkly sound.

Iori took the snack, but laid it aside. "Seeing if one of the servant's families took residence back during the Kamakura shogunate." The characters in the opened volume were elegant, dark strokes bold and legible. "Did your clan ever take in people?"

"Maybe?" Kyo scratched the back of his neck. "Didn't most people?"

"Wealthy clans, not individuals. Unless it was also a religious sect seeking to gain adherents. Plenty of warrior monks back then." Iori flipped a page, revealing yet more columns of precise characters written in black ink. "Branch families?"

"We did have them once, yeah."

"What happened to them?"

"Dunno." He couldn't read the kanji, however beautiful they were. "Your clan still keeps servants?"

"We don't keep them." Iori turned, facing him. "Perhaps they were once retainers, but that system's no longer around. If they serve now, it's by personal choice. There's only a handful left at the estate."

"So one of them –"

"Had an ancestor who took shelter with the Yasakani centuries ago. Her family continues to serve to honor that debt."

"So you're looking at…" Iori's shoulder was warm and solid as Kyo pressed against him, staring at the formal Chinese characters. "What is that, exactly?"

"My clan's employment records during the Kamakura shogunate. The first, that is."

"The…" Kyo turned his baffled expression upon Iori. "So that's just a bunch of names?"

"Yes."

"And that's just the first? How many do you have?"

"Twenty. Heian era's triple. Seems the earlier imperial peace kept things stable, but then the Genpei War might've unsettled some people. Not sure what happened. Consider this light."

Twenty volumes were light? Twenty volumes were staggering, especially if all of them were written in classical Chinese or Japanese. Maybe his dad could read them and Iori obviously could – yet all that effort. Even with his newfound urge to learn, it seemed a bit much. "Are you gonna tackle it all at once?"

"No." Iori's expression told him it was a foolish thought. "Still have to cross-verify. Can't complete it in a day." His lover reached for the wrapped pastry, packaging crinkling as he opened it. "Going to have to split it up. Not sure if you want to help."

"How so?" Kyo wasn't keen about burying himself in books – even if they were fascinating glimpses into their clans' pasts – yet, if it meant more time spent with Iori…. "I can't read most of that."

"I know." Half the pastry was gone, eaten in two large bites. There were crumbs around Iori's lips. "Organize the volumes, maybe. I'll keep the relevant ones aside. We'll go from there." Another bite and the pastry dwindled in size again. "I did find something interesting in the archives. Something for you."

Kyo raised a brow, intrigued. "For me?"

The last of the pastry disappeared even as Iori stood, leaned over the nearest stack and retrieved a silkbound book. "Apparently, my ancestors back then were scholars. This is a copy of the Jikyōshū."

He took the book from Iori, whose gaze had turned avid. Curious, Kyo opened the volume, flipping to a random page. There were kanji; however, the Chinese characters were also accompanied by smaller Japanese script. Reading the Japanese under his breath, Kyo puzzled through the possible correlation between the two different sets of characters. He turned to another page, read some of those aloud and only then did it click.

"It's a dictionary."

Iori grinned. "Suitable, wouldn't you say?"

"Would this help with…" Kyo gestured towards the stacks on Iori's desk. "Those?"

"It could. Does it remind you of anything else?"

Kyo picked up on the seductive undertone in Iori's voice and glanced at the ancient dictionary in his hand. Dictionary, dictionary…why did that…wait. He smiled, sure of the answer. "Didn't think you'd take it literally."

"Why pass the chance?"

Why, indeed. At least Iori wasn't asking him to read the volumes right now using this. Compared to last time, Iori's mood was brighter, considering the bedroom eyes he gave him. Putting the dictionary back on the desk, Kyo closed the small gap between them. Something at the estate was positive at least – a servant's family's ancient genealogy, of all things – and Kyo didn't bring up the difference from before. Let Iori enjoy this, rather than go back to chasing old shadows.

"You have a weird sense of humor."

"You started it first."

Actually, he did. "So if you give me a dictionary, you wanna fuck?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Iori teased him, tone light. "Some mental exercise might help –"

"Let's save that for later." He kissed Iori, tasting melon from the crumbs on his lips. "Maybe I should get you pastries more often."

"Strawberries are in season."

"I'll keep that in mind." Kyo tugged on Iori's shirt, pulling him away from the desk and towards the bed. "You like parfaits?"

Iori's hands were on him, trying to reverse their positions. "Yes," Iori breathed more than said, eyes half-lidded. "Only the good ones, though." Warm fingers against skin and scars, and with a deft move, Iori had him on his back. "Sweet and subtle."

"Like you?"

"Dunno about sweet."

"You're not exactly subtle, either."

Iori laughed, voice a low rumble. "That'd be beyond you."

"Hey! Unfair!"

"I only speak the truth." Backlit by sunlight, Iori's hair was bright red while the shadows remained soft on his face. "Golden Week. Besides parfaits and my apartment, anything else in mind?"

"Besides this?" Kyo replied, smiling lazily to goad Iori's obvious pleasure. "What else do we need?"

"No more delays, then."

"Thought you'd bury yourself in names and books and –"

"With you here?" Iori leaned in, nuzzling his neck. "That'll be a waste."

"Glad you…" A faint gasp escaped Kyo as Iori's nuzzling turned to nibbling. "Ah…no more books and…. That's new."

"Always seek to please."

"I…you…later…"

"Tonight." Iori might be the moon to his sun, yet his smile shone like the latter. He spoke tenderly, voice soft. "Tonight, Kyo. I'm yours, then."

Notes:

* Tenjin is the deity name of Sugawara no Michizane, an important Heian personage. His shrine in Kyoto is Kitano Tenmangū.

* The Genpei War was a major series of battles between the Taira and Minamoto clans. The famous "Tale of the Heike" (which I'm currently reading) goes into the background details of what led to that epic clash. The Heian era ended after this, leading into the Kamakura shogunate.

* The Jikyōshū is one of the very early Japanese dictionaries. Back then, Chinese was primarily the language of the learned men, so the characters were brought over and given Japanese pronunciations.

All valid links to each reference can be found on the AO3 cross-posted chapter.