Why not?
By: Arysa
Chapter 2: Chichiri's Children
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Her eyes were open and she wasn't dreaming but how could what she see be real? Ayn had arrived in an open green field. In the distance she could see the faint outline of mountains. The air was crisp and filled with laughter. She turned and saw a man surrounded by a gaggle of laughing adolescents. He was engaged in keeping the kids at bay by firing small bouts of red energy. As each beam came near a child, their hands deftly reflected the light back to their guardian in four different colors.
The blue haired teacher brought his staff down hard on the ground signaling play time was over. "Time for homework children!" he cried happily. "Come now, homework can be fun no da!" he said as he herded his brood into a long building off to the right but he remained outside.
The monk rested against the building, he looked weary. He turned to check the position of the sun and came face to face with a beautiful familiar young woman not of his world. He shook his head roughly but still the woman stayed in his sight. "Ayn?" he asked hesitantly.
"Yes." said Ayn. She was quite confused. Was this Chichiri? Who were those children? What was she doing here? Before she could form another question she was in his arms.
"Ayn" whispered the blue-haired mage happily. "I've missed you no da." He held her tight for what seemed like an eternity, let her go reluctantly and softly demanded "Why are you here?"
"I don't know Chichiri" admitted Ayn. She reached for his mask and dropped it to the ground. She raised one of her hands to trace the line of his scar, he felt warm and real. His body slumped forwards and he lay his head on her shoulder "I cannot send you back Ayn." he admitted. "I'm recovering from sending Arysa back to your world. You must stay." She kissed Chichiri's neck and breathed in his ear "I want to stay."
A loud cry of "Chichiri-Sensei!" came from the building beside the couple. Chichiri stood up straight, smiled and pulled another mask out of thin air to cover his face. "We cannot scare my children no da!" he exclaimed and escorted Ayn into the schoolhouse.
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As soon as she entered the schoolhouse Ayn recognized the constellations of Suzaku on the South wall. She glanced around the room and surmised the diagrams on the other walls must be for the other three gods. Low bookcase benches filled the space on each wall until the diagrams began. A few constellations on each wall were highlighted in a different color; Ayn smiled as she realized "Chichiri" was one of those special constellations.
There were four doors leading from the main room, of the three that were open two held bunk beds and the third was a kitchen. Ayn blushed bright as she idly wondered where she would be sleeping that night. Her blush deepened when she noticed Chichiri's staff leaning against the fourth door.
The schoolhouse, though modest, seemed happy and alive. Ayn could see how Chichiri would be pleasantly content there fulfilling his role as teacher. A lively fire in the corner of the room lighted the room. The children Ayn had seen earlier were seated on either side of a long table in the center of the room. Now that she could get a closer look at the kids she noticed a few had odd tattoos on their bodies. Some were steadily staring at their books; most were looking up expectantly at Chichiri.
"Questions are meant to be asked no da!" exclaimed Chichiri as he left Ayn's side to approach his class. The children looked downcast and perplexed. Chichiri looked at the open textbook and saw what had caused the silence, the class was history; the subject was the recent Konan/Kutou war.
A young girl carrying the tattoo of the Byakko seishi Subaru raised her eyes from her text to meet the gaze of her sensei to ask only one question: "Why?"
"No da" replied the monk sadly. "Some say we fight the battles of the Gods, others say men war. Each must learn their own path." He laid a hand on the girls shoulder as she stared at the young girl across the table, "Our fate is to fight each other?" she asked hesitantly.
"I will never fight my friend." was the reply from the other girl. The force of her feelings caused a blue field to form around her body, sparks outlining the resolve of her words
"Soi." Chichiri commanded softly. "Control your chi no da"
Seriyuu sichiseishi Soi dampened her chi and jut her chin out at her teacher. "I will only fight for my friends, not against them." she said proudly and defiantly. Her dark red hair was raised slightly from her shoulders by the static electricity of the lightning produced earlier.
A young man beside Soi stood up beside her, his blonde hair and quiet demeanor a contrast to Soi's dark looks and outright rebellion. He put a hand on Soi's shoulder and she visibly relaxed. The blue glow that had been emanating from her divided amongst the comrades to illuminate the sign of Nakago on the boy's forehead.
"We will do as we must" the youngest of the students present piped up "but we need not repeat past mistakes, past atrocities, if we learn from our failings. That is why we fellow seishi from were sent here by our emperors." The child paused for a brief minute, then gave a puzzled look to his fellow classmates. "Besides," he continued, "we are very lucky because we can study here all the time, and studying is never boring!"
The class erupted into giggles, which cut the tension into ribbons. Chichiri sighed with relief and walked over to the startling intelligent small boy. "Chiriko," he said, "you are wise at any age no da" and ruffled his hair.
"That's enough for one day no da! To bed!" cried Chichiri gladly. The students gathered their books and replaced them in the shelves along the wall. Subaru and Soi walked arm in arm to one room while the remaining male seishi went towards the other door. Ayn approached Chichiri and looked at him expectantly.
"Ai." whispered Chichiri "you will stay with me tonight no da" He took Ayn by the hand and opened the fourth door to reveal a small bedchamber. Ayn trembled at the feel of her hand in his and the thoughts of what the night would bring.
"You're cold no da" said Chichiri concernedly. He led her to the bed and sat her down. He bent to light the stack of wood in the fireplace. The small sparks of red chi Chichiri sent to the wood brought dancing warmth to the room. The reds and yellows of the flames brought Ayn's mind back to the necklace given to her just hours earlier.
"Arysa," Ayn said seriously as she fingered the bead on the necklace, "maybe we're both insane."
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To be continued ...
