**track seventeen** Intermezzo (part two)
Ah, and another thing I forgot to bring with me to Ryokuto - my CD
player. I'll have to take that along when I go back. I pop a random
disc into the player, and settle in as I listen to the familiar sounds
of applause followed by a fast electric guitar lick. Only... the words
sound a little different, this time around:
"Through the passing strange I fell
To the wide-eyed opposite
My gender was hidden well
Now I don't know where I left it
I... woke up in Escher's world today
My mother said it was okay..."
Ouch. I know *that* feeling. I sit up, and shut the player off.
And while I'm up, I catch a silhouette falling across the rice paper
walls. "Who's there?"
"O...onii-sama?"
Reina! I shunt my bedroom door open. "Come on in. What's been going
on? You really haven't been yourself these past few days... huh?" My
gosh... he's crying! "Reina?" I walk over to him and hug him. "What
is it, ototo-chan?"
"I don't *wanna* be myself, onii-sama..."
Hm? I lead him into my room, and shut the door. I get on my knees, so
I can look him straight in the eye. "What do you mean by that, Reina?"
His tears dry up as he stares at me like I was the most clueless
individual on the face of the planet. And I guess I am, because I
don't know what's bothering him. "*Look* at me, Shun..." I stand up,
and take a step back to appraise what might be so different about my
little brother all of a sudden.
I don't see anything unusual. He stands about chest high on me, with a
tousled shock of light-coloured hair that comes to just below the nape
of the neck. Most folks might be hard pressed to tell if he was a boy
or a girl, but then, that's -
"That's it. I hate being like this."
"Like what?"
"Like a girl, Shun. Don't you get it? We were raised like this so
we could take over the ryokan. Now that Yui's here... we've wasted
our lives..."
I blink. Wasted? "Reina... what are you talking about? We were raised
this way because that's what we are - the Kisaragis have always been
bishonen. We might as well take advantage of our inborn beauty. It's
not because we were being groomed to take over the ryokan someday - if
that was the case, I'd have been raised as a girl, yes, but Mom and Dad
wouldn't have bothered raising you like that...
"Anyway, I never wanted to run this ryokan..." I know it sounds like
sour grapes to some of you, and I'm pretty sure that others of you want
me to break into some sort of silly song about lumberjacking. Well, I'm
not gonna do it. Reina's too upset for that right now. "If I did, I'd
be taking more business and hotel management classes. But I'm taking
drama classes and the like. I want to be an actor." Of course, maybe
less so now than when I entered Ryokuto, but at least in the real world,
I wouldn't have to do it 24/7.
"You mean, like Ojii-sama does with his Kabuki?"
"Ah... something like that. See? You've got to find your own road,
Reina-chan. Something that allows you to use your beauty," and I run
my hand along his chin, "to your best advantage."
"But girls don't want this kind of beauty, Shun-chan... they want a
*real* man. What girl could possibly be interested in a half-man,
half-girl, anyway?"
Well, the good news is, he hasn't been poking through my collection
of manga while I've been away at school. Wait a minute... "What's
this about girls, Reina-chan?" His eyes widen, and he quickly looks
down at his feet. He'd obviously not intended to tell me so much.
I grin. "Is there someone you're interested in, Reina-chan?"
He shuffles his feet, and nods.
My grin gets broader. "Anyone I should know?" His eyes dart back
and forth for a moment, and then he leans in, and whispers a name in
my ear.
No, I'm not telling.
"I see. Well, if you think she'd be more impressed by a more masculine
personality, go for it... see what you can do. You've got it in you to
act that way. And once you finish going through puberty, it may be that
much easier." Mentally, I shrug. Reina's a Kisaragi, too... puberty
doesn't seem to affect us as much as most males. Sure, we grow to adult
size and all, but that's about it. But he needs the hope right now -
and maybe a warning, too: "Acting macho isn't gonna feel right, though,
I can guarantee it."
I don't think he's been listening. "Macho, huh..." He draws himself
up to his full height, turns, and sort of swaggers out of the room.
He's walking kinda funny... like he was a bit bowlegged or something.
I think he's overdoing it. In fact, I *know* he is.
Once he shunts the bedroom door behind him, I can hear this "Hwwahk!
P-TU!" I bring my hand to my forehead, and make a mental note to inform
Reina that spitting will not impress *any* girl, regardless of how macho
he thinks it is.
I'll do it later.
Ah, and another thing I forgot to bring with me to Ryokuto - my CD
player. I'll have to take that along when I go back. I pop a random
disc into the player, and settle in as I listen to the familiar sounds
of applause followed by a fast electric guitar lick. Only... the words
sound a little different, this time around:
"Through the passing strange I fell
To the wide-eyed opposite
My gender was hidden well
Now I don't know where I left it
I... woke up in Escher's world today
My mother said it was okay..."
Ouch. I know *that* feeling. I sit up, and shut the player off.
And while I'm up, I catch a silhouette falling across the rice paper
walls. "Who's there?"
"O...onii-sama?"
Reina! I shunt my bedroom door open. "Come on in. What's been going
on? You really haven't been yourself these past few days... huh?" My
gosh... he's crying! "Reina?" I walk over to him and hug him. "What
is it, ototo-chan?"
"I don't *wanna* be myself, onii-sama..."
Hm? I lead him into my room, and shut the door. I get on my knees, so
I can look him straight in the eye. "What do you mean by that, Reina?"
His tears dry up as he stares at me like I was the most clueless
individual on the face of the planet. And I guess I am, because I
don't know what's bothering him. "*Look* at me, Shun..." I stand up,
and take a step back to appraise what might be so different about my
little brother all of a sudden.
I don't see anything unusual. He stands about chest high on me, with a
tousled shock of light-coloured hair that comes to just below the nape
of the neck. Most folks might be hard pressed to tell if he was a boy
or a girl, but then, that's -
"That's it. I hate being like this."
"Like what?"
"Like a girl, Shun. Don't you get it? We were raised like this so
we could take over the ryokan. Now that Yui's here... we've wasted
our lives..."
I blink. Wasted? "Reina... what are you talking about? We were raised
this way because that's what we are - the Kisaragis have always been
bishonen. We might as well take advantage of our inborn beauty. It's
not because we were being groomed to take over the ryokan someday - if
that was the case, I'd have been raised as a girl, yes, but Mom and Dad
wouldn't have bothered raising you like that...
"Anyway, I never wanted to run this ryokan..." I know it sounds like
sour grapes to some of you, and I'm pretty sure that others of you want
me to break into some sort of silly song about lumberjacking. Well, I'm
not gonna do it. Reina's too upset for that right now. "If I did, I'd
be taking more business and hotel management classes. But I'm taking
drama classes and the like. I want to be an actor." Of course, maybe
less so now than when I entered Ryokuto, but at least in the real world,
I wouldn't have to do it 24/7.
"You mean, like Ojii-sama does with his Kabuki?"
"Ah... something like that. See? You've got to find your own road,
Reina-chan. Something that allows you to use your beauty," and I run
my hand along his chin, "to your best advantage."
"But girls don't want this kind of beauty, Shun-chan... they want a
*real* man. What girl could possibly be interested in a half-man,
half-girl, anyway?"
Well, the good news is, he hasn't been poking through my collection
of manga while I've been away at school. Wait a minute... "What's
this about girls, Reina-chan?" His eyes widen, and he quickly looks
down at his feet. He'd obviously not intended to tell me so much.
I grin. "Is there someone you're interested in, Reina-chan?"
He shuffles his feet, and nods.
My grin gets broader. "Anyone I should know?" His eyes dart back
and forth for a moment, and then he leans in, and whispers a name in
my ear.
No, I'm not telling.
"I see. Well, if you think she'd be more impressed by a more masculine
personality, go for it... see what you can do. You've got it in you to
act that way. And once you finish going through puberty, it may be that
much easier." Mentally, I shrug. Reina's a Kisaragi, too... puberty
doesn't seem to affect us as much as most males. Sure, we grow to adult
size and all, but that's about it. But he needs the hope right now -
and maybe a warning, too: "Acting macho isn't gonna feel right, though,
I can guarantee it."
I don't think he's been listening. "Macho, huh..." He draws himself
up to his full height, turns, and sort of swaggers out of the room.
He's walking kinda funny... like he was a bit bowlegged or something.
I think he's overdoing it. In fact, I *know* he is.
Once he shunts the bedroom door behind him, I can hear this "Hwwahk!
P-TU!" I bring my hand to my forehead, and make a mental note to inform
Reina that spitting will not impress *any* girl, regardless of how macho
he thinks it is.
I'll do it later.