Candy-coated Fluff or,
Kamui-rellaTM
Cast of Characters:
Kamui Shirou as Kamui-rella, Subaru Sumeragi as the Prince; Seiichiro Aoki as
the Father; Kanoe as the Stepmother; Satsuki as Ugly Stepsister 1; Kotori Monou
as the Good Mother who Died; Hinoto as the Fairy Godmother who Slept too Much;
Kakyou as the King, Karen Kasumi as the Queen, Nataku as the Princess; Fuuma
Monou as Evil Stepsister 2. Others introduced at random.
STANDARD DISCLAIMER
and a FEW NOTES: None of this belongs to me!! (I wished) I am poor and unable
to find work...so don't sue! CLAMP-sama
owns all of this. Some jokes are only amusing if you know enough about the
manga. Also, there might be some SLASH and hints of lime. So watch out and don't
flame me merely for that. (Although flames are okay)
Once upon a time there was a
successful businessman who had a very happy family consisting of his loving
wife and gender-confused son. One day, though, the wife fell ill because she
saw a bird decapitated on a windowpane and was soon dying. The businessman
tried to find some cure for her constant babbling about somebody named "Kakyou"
but she died anyway, somehow murdered by a mysterious flying sword. Kamui fell
into a catatonic state at her deathbed and Seiichiro was of course heartbroken.
He journeyed throughout the land searching for someone who could help the
beautiful Kamui but had to give it up for no one could think of a way to free
Kamui.
Now one day as Seiichiro rode past a
small village in the woods a young man ran up to him and begged for a ride.
Noting that the young man was quite polite and handsome, Seiichiro pulled him on
the horse and rode home. However, he did not see the seven gangsters in the
undergrowth as they emerged from the forest.
Subaru was very grateful and asked
Seiichiro if he desired anything. Of course Seiichiro wanted his Kamui healed,
and so Subaru was taken to the bedside of the pretty invalid and left there to
try to cure the boy. Eventually he used his telepathic powers to dive deep into
Kamui's somewhat mutilated psyche and pull him from its depths. Seiichiro was
so happy that he offered Subaru whatever he Wished but the young man denied and
left.
Now
Seiichiro, being a vigorous man in his prime, wanted another wife to take care
of his son (and himself). And so he attended a ball at the Diet manor and there
a dark lady named Kanoe managed to convince him that she was a excellent
candidate. "I have two daughters though," she told him as they rode home to
inform Kamui of the news. "Or, rather, one who is really a girl and another who
is rather confused."
"Why
of course," said Seiichiro, sweatdropping only a tiny bit. "My child is a tad
disoriented as well." (They chuckle as though it was an inside joke.)
Kamui
was not particularly enthusiastic to share Seiichiro with others, although
Kanoe assured him that neither Satsuki nor Fuuma were mean and unkind.
So
Kanoe and her two children moved in shortly thereafter. The first time Kamui
met Fuuma the latter went directly for the former's neck and could only be
dragged from the choking Kamui by Satsuki, Seiichiro, and Kanoe combined.
Satsuki was rather indifferent to Kamui, though, and they spoke to each other
very little.
One
day Seiichiro perished suddenly while selling Piffle Princess wares in a far
county. Immediately Kanoe forced Kamui to take on the huge burden of
maintaining the house, including polishing Fuuma's Shinken and Satsuki's
massive supercomputer Beast. Though it was more than enough work to keep Kamui
busy from dawn to dusk, Kanoe also made him oil her large collection of whips
and polish her equally large collection of chains, not to mention laundering
everyone's numerous articles of clothing.
For a
time Kanoe and her daughters lived with Kamui in this house, abusing the poor
young man to unimaginable lengths. As the week drew on, Fuuma and Kanoe forced
Kamui from his small attic room and into the cold stone hearth, where he could
draw only a bit of warmth from the dying embers.
One
night, as Kamui shuddered under his flimsy blanket beside the ashes, he tried
to coax a tiny ember into some semblance of flame to warm himself somewhat.
Just then it started to snow outside, and a chill gale swept down the chimney
and Kamui shivered, drawing his blanket tighter around himself. "Oh, how I wish
Papa was still alive…" He rubbed at his eyes with a grimy sleeve.
Suddenly
there came a rap-rapping on the windowpane. "Who could that be?" Kamui
wondered, stumbling to the window and pushing his delicate white nose against
the frigid glass. And gasped.
It
was a puppy. Or at least, it seemed to be one. And there was a young girl with
closely cut hair behind it, her hand on its collar. "Sir," she said, "we are
but a mere band of merchants in this blizzard…could you let us in? Please,
Sir?"
Kamui,
slightly stunned, went to the foyer and pushed aside the bolts and opened the
door to a blue-nosed group of shivering people. The girl, with the puppy
lolling in her arms, came in first, sneezed, and smiled at Kamui. "Thank you."
After her came a large man…a very large man with an equally large coat. And
then there was a handsome blond man in a leather trench coat. Kamui goggled at
them as the girl latched the door.
"Thank
you so much, Sir!" She bowed. Kamui bowed stiffly back, his purple eyes wide.
The girl took a covered basket from the large man and handed it to Kamui. "This
is our little thanks."
"What
is it?" Kamui pushed the cloth aside. "Oh my! Pocky!"
"Yes,"
replied the girl. "Compliments of Yuzuriha-Kusanagi Limited. There's strawberry
Pocky, milk Pocky, and chocolate Pocky." The large man bobbed his head with
Yuzuriha. Kamui would have refused, but they insisted for his hospitality, and
so Kamui found some new friends.
Later
that night one of the handsome blond men introduced himself to Kamui over a cup
of cider. "So, Kamui-chan, why aren't you in bed?" He winked. Kamui chewed his
lip. "Well, Stepmother Kanoe thinks that it is better to have me sleep here, so
that I can prepare breakfast without having to go anywhere." Indeed, the
fireplace was located in the kitchen.
"That
doesn't sound very nice of her," said Yuuto. "In fact, it's downright vicious."
"Yeah,"
agreed Yuzuriha. "I hope she didn't do anything else as mean."
Kamui
sighed. "But she did. I have to polish my stepsiblings' stuff
too…Satsuki-chan's Beast and oniichan's sword…" here he looked down at his
hands resting in his lap and sighed again.
"What's
the matter, Kamui?" Yuuto asked solicitously. "What did oniichan do?"
"He…he…"
Kamui finally held up one of his hands, palm facing the travelers. They gaped
in horror. "Why, Kamui! Did he make those horrible scars?"
"Yes."
Kamui sighed again, close to tears. "But Stepmother Kanoe said that he was
quite nice before he came here…maybe it's just me." And he promptly broke down
into tears.
They
had quite a time attempting to comfort Kamui, but when the boy recovered, they
resolved that all three of the visitors would hide in the house and help Kamui.
The next day was heavy with snow, but Kamui was still made to polish the ice-chill Beast who growled at him, and the Shinken with which Fuuma had pierced his palm as well. When he went to Kanoe's room to oil her whips, though, he found her chatting with Yuuto. After a few minutes of their hedonistic talk, a red-faced Kamui went back downstairs. As he scrubbed the tiles in the bathroom, Yuzuriha popped in with her Inuki. "Hey Kamui! Wanna go with us to the Fair tomorrow? There'll be lots of fun things to look at and buy."
Kamui
sadly shook his head. " I don't think so, Yuzuriha-chan. Kanoe would never let
me."
Yuzuriha
winked at him. "Well, she'll be rather occupied tomorrow. And so will Satsuki
and Beast."
Kamui
recalled Kanoe's conversation with Yuuto and brightened. "But…Satsuki?"
"Well,
Kamui," said Satsuki, descending the stairs languidly, her eyes unusually
bright behind her glasses. "At last you've done something right." Yuuto and
Kanoe appeared by her side, Kanoe somewhat more under-dressed than usual. Kamui
averted his eyes and focused on Satsuki. "This Yuuto person will amuse us quite
well." She flounced to her room, Kanoe and Yuuto following.
"See?"
Yuzuriha smiled at Kamui. "So you wanna go?"
"Of
course!"
Three
bundled figures ventured from the manor house the next day, Yuzuriha with Inuki
in her arms, Kusanagi with many baskets of Pocky in his large fists. Kamui was
ecstatic at being away from home, and actually skipped part of the way to the
Fair.
The
Fair was highly visible, even in the snow. Enormous banners stretched between
sakura trees, painted in red and black. "Wow," Kamui murmured when he saw the
rows and rows of pavilions and stalls set up in the little bowl of land he was
looking down upon. "What's that?" He pointed at a small blood-colored booth
beside a blooming sakura tree. It was made even more prominent by the empty
ring around it; obviously the other vendors had avoided that stall.
"That's…that's
the Sakurazukamori." Yuzuriha whispered. "He's really strange. Keep away from
him." Of course this only aroused Kamui's curiosity. "What is that?"
"Uhhhh…"
Yuzuriha looked distinctly uncomfortable. "He kills people to feed to that
tree."
"The-that
blooming one?"
Yuzuriha
nodded grimly. "That's the one..."
Kamui
drew in a shallow breath and slipped down the hill with his friends.
Notes: This is my very first published fic! Please, all comments welcome. I feel that there aren't enough X fics out there and so...here it goes. :: gulps::
This
is set at no particular point in the manga, by the way.