Language of Flowers
Language of Flowers

By Maria Szabo

Disclaimer: The Characters and storylines of X/1999 are the property of CLAMP, their publishers and their distributors. This is a work of fan fiction, and no profit is being made from it, nor is any infringement intended. Please don't sue!

Part 4

I thought Saturday would never get here! Thought Yuzuriha as she put the last touch on the boxed lunches she was preparing. Kusanagi hadn't said whether they'd need a lunch or not, but she figured she'd be prepared. Besides, a picnic would be the perfect compliment to a visit to the gardens. And, she said to herself, he hasn't had a chance to try my cooking! She giggled as she added a chocolate bar into the box.

"What's so funny?"

Yuzuriha jumped about five feet straight into the air. She turned towards the doorway of the kitchen and saw Kamui lounging there. She could have sworn he was smiling. Inuki flew straight over to the boy and licked his face.

"I didn't mean to startle you." He said, contritely, trying to keep the inugami at bay, "I said hello, but you're weren't listening."

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to…um…"

"What's that?" he indicated the neatly wrapped box.

"Lunch."

"You're going out? Where?"

She blushed. "Um…well…"

He seemed to sense her reluctance. "It's ok, you don't need to tell me. You're not going alone, are you?"

"No." she answered. That was true, although maybe not the truth Kamui was looking for.

He looked relieved. "Good. I just, well, worry. If you came across one of THEM, it's best not to be alone."

She gave him her brightest smile. "I'll be okay! Really! Inuki will have me back by dinner time, I promise!"

She wasn't sure why she hadn't told the others yet about Kusanagi-san, she mused as she and Inuki headed down the drive towards the front entrance of the CLAMP campus. Sure, he was kind of older than she was, but ten years wasn't that much, and besides, her father had been almost fifteen years older than her mother, and Grandma said that they'd been quite happy in the short time they had together. She was sure that if the others met Kusanagi-san, they'd like him right away, just like she had. But there never seemed to be a time to talk about it—she certainly wouldn't mention it to the guys, and Arashi-san was so remote. Karen-san might be sympathetic, but she was busy with her own life and rarely came around. Besides, this feeling she had was special and she wanted to keep it to herself for awhile. It was a secret for her and Inuki.

"That's right, Inuki!" she exclaimed.

The puppy turned to look at her.

"He hasn't met you yet! I was going to surprise him!"

Inuki cocked his head, and gave her a look as if to say, "Huh?"

"I'm going to meet a friend today. I want you to stay hidden for the first few minutes, until I tell you to come out."

He growled, uncertain.

"Oh, come on. It'll be fun!"

A short bark and few wags of his tail told her that the dog would comply. Inuki faded into a wispy vapor.

He was early again, she saw, as she rounded the corner and saw him waiting for her. He was looking up in the branches of a young tree, his hand set on the trunk. His lips were moving as if he was saying something, and his face looked troubled.

Kusanagi Shiyuu was not really a handsome man, she decided, not in the way that Subaru-san or Aoki-san were handsome, and certainly not pretty like Kamui-san. He was very big, muscular with tanned skin, an unruly shock of hair and very bushy eyebrows. She supposed that he might even look scary if he were angered, but she found it hard to imagine him getting angry. When she had first met him, she was so shocked about his ability to see Inuki that she didn't really notice what he looked like until later.

"Kusanagi-san?" she ventured, hoping not to disturb him.

He looked over, his hard eyes softening upon seeing her.

"Hello, Missy," he said, "How are you?"

"I'm fine. You didn't have to wait long, did you?"

"Nah, just got here. What have you got there?" he indicated the wrapped box in her hands.

"Lunch!" she beamed up at him. "Hope you're hungry!"

He laughed. "Soldiers are always hungry. Didn't you know that, Missy?"

He took the bundle from her hands. "That was good thinking. There not a lot open nowadays, with the earthquakes and all."

"What did the tree say?" she asked, looking up at the sparce maple.

Kusanagi's face went still. "It's dying," he said sadly, "There's not enough room for the root system to expand, and it's not getting enough water."

"Oh." Yuzuriha looked down. "Wait, wait, maybe…Would it live if it were moved?"

He looked puzzled. "Maybe. But it would be expensive."

"That's okay," she said. She leaned towards him and whispered in a conspiratory voice, "Imonoyama-san, who's family owns the school?"

"Yeah?'

"He's really rich. And he's really nice, too. I bet if I showed him the tree, he could move it to the campus grounds. There's lots of trees there.'

A strange look came and went over Kusanagi's face.

She blushed. "Dumb idea, huh?"

"No! No, it's…if your friend has that kind of money…"

She laughed. "He does. And I bet he'd be happy to help, if he knew. And then maple-san wouldn't be so lonely here, all by itself."

A large hand came over her hair in a brief caress. Kusanagi smiled, very gently.

She blushed again. "Will they mind? If we eat in the garden, I mean?"

"That's alright. There's a long greenway outside the walls. They have benches there."

"Great!"

He took her hand in his. "Let's get going, then."

It took a while to get to the Imperial Palace. The Yamanote line was destroyed, but there were other trains that were still working. The two of them kept a steady stream of banter running as they slowly made their way through the city. Yuzuriha was hopelessly lost after a few blocks, but he always seemd to know exactly where he was.

"How do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"You're never lost. I'm always lost. How do you do it?'

"Well," he said, then grimaced. "Missy, I hate to admit this, but I cheat."

"What?"

He laughed, a full, hearty laugh that filled her heart. "I cheat. Actually, we're trained in the force to find our way through fields, woods, hills, cities, whatever. It's called orienteering. But, really, I just follow the lines."

She shook her head. "What lines?"

"Ley-lines. It's part of my 'talent', the same way I can hear things. I don't know, you could probably see them, too, if you knew where to look."

"Really?"

He nodded. "I don't know exactly how your gift works, Missy, but I believe most talents are pretty similar." He stopped suddenly. "But I forgot…without Inuki…"

"Oh!" she giggled suddenly. "I didn't show you my surprise!"

Kusanagi gave her an odd look. "Surprise?"

"You remember in my letter?"

"Yeah, but what?"

Little cat ears popped out of her head. "Let's wait until we're in less crowded surroundings!"

He blinked, and then blushed slightly. "Missy…what are you up to?"

"You'll see! C'mon! We must be close!"

"Yeah, the Otemon gate is just up this way a bit."

The gate was pretty impressive, with large heavy doors and fine metalwork. There were benches just outside the gate, and Kusanagi pulled her over to sit on one.

"We should eat here. They probably wouldn't want us to bring food inside."

She nodded, took the lunch bundle from him and began to untie it.

"So what's this surprise, then, Missy?"

She grinned and whistled. A wisp of vapor appeared and the puppy Inuki formed into his semi-solid state. He greeted Yuzuriha with a sharp bark and then turned to consider the man with her.

"I'll be…another one? Really?" He put out a tentative hand towards the inugami, palm up. "Pleased to meet you."

The puppy growled a little, then sniffed suspiciously at his hand.

"You're a cautious one, aren't you? That's all to the good."

Inuki came closer to him, careful in his movements. Kusanagi patiently waited for the dog to finish his inspection.

"What's his name?"

Yuzuriha beamed. "Inuki! After the other one."

"How on earth did you…where did he come from?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "From me, I suppose."

"He's different from the other. He's got wild eyes."

He finally ruffled the dog's fur slowly, watching for a reaction. Inuki looked a bit startled, but then yapped happily and jumped up on the large man, licking his face.

"Whoa! Down! Good dog!"

"Inuki!" Yuzuriha snapped her fingers and the dog came running back to her. "Sorry, I'm still training him not to do that."

Kusanagi laughed. "That's all right. I'm glad to know you've got a partner again. I was worried about how you were holding up, but…"

"But?"

"Well, I didn't want to bring it up on such a nice day."

She blushed. "You really don't need to worry. I'm fine!"

The lunches were no worse for the wear, she was pleased to notice. They made short work of them, and Kusanagi was very complimentary. He got up off the bench and held out his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her up without much effort. Hands still linked, they strolled through the giant gate.

"This way," he said, "It doesn't cost anything, but we have to pick up a tag."

There was a small office just past the gate with an old man in attendance. He smiled at the two and gave them a couple of plastic tags. "Just return them when you leave—either here or at the Hirakawamon or Kita-Hanebashimon gates."

Yuzuriha was amazed. "This is like another world in here! You can't even tell we're in the middle of the city!"

Kusanagi had visibly relaxed. It was funny, she realized, that she hadn't noticed how tense he was before. He sensed her looking at him and smiled down at her, giving her hand a squeeze.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing."

"No, tell me."

She reddened a bit. "You…um…you seem happier, just being here."

He laughed. "Well, this is one of my favorite places. Tokyo doesn't have much in the way of parks, you know, and certainly nothing like this. I was stationed in Hokkaido for awhile, did I ever tell you that?"

She shook her head.

"I got spoiled there, I think. People put it down, say it's boring up there. I guess compared to everything here, it probably is kind of dull. But there's so much…life…there. I don't know. I felt…trapped…when I came back here."

He suddenly stopped. "What an odd speech. Sorry, Missy, you shouldn't let me go on like that."

"No! It's okay! You should say what you think!"

That strange look again, she thought. They wandered about for a while, Inuki running and exploring ahead of them. There were a lot of trees, and some pleasant flower gardens spread throughout. There were other people around as well, young couples, families with children, a few people with sketchbooks, trying to capture a moment in time.

"I want to try something, Missy, if you're up to it."

She looked up at him. "Um…what do you…"

"Remember how I was saying how most 'talents' are alike? I thought, maybe, you might be able to 'hear' like I do."

She was shocked. "Really?"

"Maybe. I can see your dog, after all. I think it's a matter of focus. How are you able to control Inuki?"

She turned to look at the puppy, who was snuffling through a flower garden. Being ephemeral, he did no damage. "He does a lot on his own. We kind of work together. We really ARE partners."

"Have him come over here, then."

They stopped in front of a young pine tree. He gently laid her hand on the bark. Inuki jumped up and perched on her shoulder, looking with interest.

"Try to sense it out. Listen, or feel, or see." He instructed, and then he stepped back.

She gave him a skeptical look, but then took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She reached out, but felt nothing but Inuki. I'm too nervous, she thought. She stilled her mind and focused on her hand, touching the pine tree.

Curiousity. Suspicion.

She pulled her hand off quickly.

"What is it?" Kusanagi asked. "Did you hear something?"

"I felt…emotion?" She reached out again, this time to a shrub growing in the pine tree's shadow. "Inuki…"

Curiosity. Acceptance. Welcome.

"This one is friendlier!" she exclaimed.

She jumped up and moved towards another tree. She reached out…

Kusanagi caught her hand. "Not the cherry tree. Here, try this one."

He led her over to a magnificent beech. Again, with Inuki, she reached out. Pride. Pleasure. Suspicion? Resentment?

"Careful, Missy. Are you feeling okay?"

"Dizzy," she replied.

Inuki yapped and looked worried.

"He's right. That's enough. Want to sit down for a bit?"

"Yes." She settled next to him on the fragrant grass. "That was…what WAS that?"

He smiled. "What do you mean?"

"Everything was curious, but there was also a lot of anger? Why would a tree be angry at me?"

"It's not you. Humans."

"Why?"

He looked away. "They're afraid of us. With good reason. Here, it's not so bad. This is a very old garden and it's pretty certain that the ones here will be able to live out their lives. That one, there," Kusanagi indicated the beech, "remembers the last war, when Tokyo was bombed and fire was everywhere."

"That was a long time ago."

"Not for a tree."

She was quiet for a moment. "I had no idea…"

"No one does. That's why they keep growing and expanding the city, even though the earth can't support it. That's why, " he hesitated. "I have something to tell you."

He looked so serious, she thought. "What is it?"

"Kusanagi-san! What a pleasant surprise!" a shadow fell over them. Yuzuriha looked up and saw a very handsome blond man. "I've been looking all over for you! You're a hard man to find."

To be continued