Chapter Twelve- Discoveries
~*~
"Houjun? Houjun, wake up!"
"Daaa...?"
"Houjun!"
The young boy opened his eyes to squint up towards the source of whoever was bugging him. He yawned. "Mama, what're ya..."
"Remember, Houjun-kun? Today you're going to school!"
"Oh, right- NANI!?
"Honestly," his mother said. She pulled him out of bed and proceeded to rummage through the pile of clothes on the floor near the door. "I hope you have a nice- ah, here we go." She held up a pair of leggings and a tunic. "You'll wear this today. You must make a nice impression, you know."
"On who?" he asked, still yawning. He sat back down on the bed. "Dad's the one teaching us. An' I'll know everyone else there!"
"You should still be prepared. You never know what may happen. Now get up, get that blasted hair of yours presentable, and get dressed. I'll get you some bread to eat on your way!"
Grumbling about how unfair the whole thing was, Houjun reluctantly stood up and changed into the clothes his mother ordered for him. He ran a hand over both knees once he'd dressed, shaking his head; his mother wouldn't like the small holes in them.
Ah, well. Not his problem!
The blue-haired boy made his way into the next room, where his mother handed him some bread.
"Now you'll behave, and listen carefully to your father, understand? Just because you're related doesn't mean he'll give you special treatment, you know!"
"Hai, hai," he mumbled. "Sure, Mama."
With that, he was hustled out the door, bread and all.
He sighed, and looked up at the sky. It was barely sunrise, with just enough light to make his way from his house onto the main road of his village. Trudging along, he began to nibble at his bread as he continued to mentally complain to himself about him having to get up so early.
After a few minutes, he met with his friend Hikou and with Ryu. Together, the three made their way to their 'school'.
The 'school' was just an old house that had been moved out of recently, but no one had lived in since. Ryu had recently taken to insisting that the ghost that haunted his house liked to stay in this abandoned place as well, but no one really believed him.
As the boys walked in, they saw that it was all one big room. Yen, Houjun's father, had gotten a number of pillows and mats for the children to sit on while they learned. They were all lined up in rows, with about four or five rows in total. Apparently, all the kids in the village were coming to this new 'school'.
Yen sat at the very front of the room, waiting for everyone to arrive.
Houjun looked around and saw that a lot of the village kids were already there, either wandering around the room or racing around outside. One kid he didn't know that well leaned against a wall, sleeping. Two others were splitting up their breakfast.
And...
Of course. There stood Akemi and Kouran, along with a couple other girls.
Houjun sighed.
"With any luck we won't be sittin' next to 'em," Hikou muttered.
Houjun nodded. "Dad says that in the capital, the schools split boys an' girls up to keep 'em from getting in trouble!"
"Good," Hikou and Ryu said.
"It seems everyone is here," Yen said suddenly. "Please, everyone, take a seat."
The kids all ignored him.
Yen sighed. Then he grabbed his staff and shook it, causing it to jingle softly.
All of the younger kids immediately hushed, looking wide-eyed at the 'jingly staff'- the older kids finally glanced over from their conversations, wondering why the younger children were so quiet.
"Everyone, please take a seat," Yen repeated.
This time, everyone hurried to obey.
"Let's go up in front," Hikou suggested. "They wouldn't dare sit near us! No one likes the front!"
"Hai, but it'll be worth it!" Houjun agreed.
"Jus' cause you guys are my friends," Ryu said hesitantly.
The three took a seat.
"Ne, Houjun, your hair's in my way," said someone behind them.
The blue-haired boy jumped, then turned around to see Kouran smiling at him. "Then move," he replied, and turned back around.
He felt her tug on his hair. "Aw, that's so mean, Houjun-chan! Don'cha think, Hikou-CHAN?"
Hikou turned to glare at her. "Shut up."
Akemi giggled. "You're both so mean!"
"Then what's so funny?" Ryu piped up.
The four looked at him, surprised he had jumped into the conversation. Then their attention was diverted as they heard the staff again.
"Ahem," Yen said. "You have all been taught by your parents for most of your lives, learning things that you'd need to know if you were to follow your family's ways of earning a living. However, the village has decided that since I, having the knowledge of Suzaku's priests, I can teach you more than your parents can.
We'll work on histories and logic; we'll occasionally wander into the woods so I can point out the good and bad plants to eat; we'll even work a bit on simple mathematics and bargaining." He heard a number of groans at this. "This is, of course, so you won't be tricked into buying something at a ridiculously high price in another city. Then we'll work on some miscellaneous things as- yes?"
A boy to the far left of Houjun had had his hand raised. "Ano, what is missile-ane-us?"
"Miscellaneous? It means other things that aren't quite as important as what I talked about before."
Yen cleared his throat again. "I'll begin with a story about how the priests live from day to day. How does that sound?"
Nobody had been really listening to him until they caught the word 'story'. After that, however, every eye was on Yen as he began to talk...
~*~
"Well, it ain't as bad as I thought it'd be," Hikou said.
Houjun looked up from eating his lunch. "Soo desu," he agreed. "It's actually kinda fun."
"Yeah, him telling stories is real fun!" Ryu said.
"Ne, Houjun, your pants..." Hikou pointed.
Houjun raised one eyebrow at his friend. Then he stood up so he could look down. He realized that the holes around his knees in the leggings were larger, probably from him sitting on the ground and shifting around so much. He shrugged. "Yeah. They're old, I think."
"Hope yer mom doesn't get too mad," Ryu said sympathetically.
"Yeah, me too," Houjun said. He reached down to touch his right kneecap. "Da... Maybe Dad'll save me."
"Speakin' of yer dad..." Ryu pointed to the doorway of the 'school', where Yen stood watching the children eat and play. "I think it's time t' go back in."
"Yeah, I guess so," Houjun agreed. He brushed off some of the dirt and crumbs he'd gotten on himself during lunch.
Kouran sauntered by then, looking a little too innocent for anyone's good. "Hiya, Houjun-chan," she said with a smile. "How ya doin'?"
"Da?" He blinked. "Ano... okay, I guess."
"Good." She giggled and walked towards the house. "See ya inside."
"Okay, that is SCARY," Hikou said, pointing after her. "What in Suzaku's she up to?" He frowned. "And was she hidin' somethin' in a pocket? Somethin' was moving in her dress!"
"I dunno," Houjun said. "Watch out, though!"
All three boys nodded seriously at this thought, then headed in for the rest of the day's lessons.
~*~
Kouran couldn't help but giggle again as Houjun warily took his seat in front of her again. She smiled at him. Then, when he had his attention on Yen, she reached into the folds of her skirt to pull out a tiny lizard.
"I don't like ya very much," she admitted quietly to it. "But Houjun-chan won't, either!"
"Eh? You say somethin', Kouran?" Houjun asked.
"Iie," she responded.
"Ano... da... okay..."
Now she waited until his attention was completely on his father again. Slowly, oh so slowly, she reached out with the lizard for the back of his shirt...
~*~
The class had gotten fairly sleepy about halfway through the later lessons. Mostly, Yen was busy talking about histories of some sort. While he was trying to keep it interesting, the children were simply tired of sitting in one place listening to the same person. Hikou was beginning to nod off, while Ryu was already asleep. Houjun, though he tried to fight off sleep, was also beginning to feel like he wouldn't make it...
Then, the calm atmosphere of the school was suddenly interrupted.
"DAAAAAAAAHAHAHA!"
Everyone turned with wide eyes to see that Houjun, wide-eyed, was frantically grabbing at his shirt as though trying to shake something out of it.
"GET IT OFF NO DAAAA!"
"Houjun? Wha?" Hikou asked, jerking awake.
Ryu continued to sleep peacefully, even when Houjun momentarily fell on top of him.
Yen, surprised at the interruption, asked, "What is going ON, Houjun?"
A few of the older girls in the far back began to squeal about how 'absolutely KAWAII that little boy up front' was, while the older boys sighed and rolled their eyes before going back to sleep.
Akemi and Kouran merely smiled at each other.
"DA! GET IT OFF NO DAHAHAA! DA!"
Then, after that unexpected occurrence, something even less expected happened.
Houjun began to feel a familiar warmth spread through his leg, and he managed to calm down enough to finally grab hold of the lizard that had been causing him so much discomfort and pull him out of his shirt. Sighing in relief, the boy felt the warmth calm him down further, and he turned sheepishly towards everyone else.
"Gomen nasai," he said, holding up the lizard. "This got into my shirt... ano... what are you all looking at?"
For everyone was staring at him, not in the exasperated way that he expected, but in an incredulous, even fearful manner that made him worry.
Then, finally, Hikou broke the silence by pointing at him. "You... leg... red... Sho! Suzaku... warrior... red... glow!" he summed up.
Everyone else seemed to agree with this statement, as a few other kids began to stammer something along the same lines.
"Red light... knee..."
"I know a warrior!"
"Me too, me too!" a little girl piped up.
Kouran, not really taking this possibility into consideration, was wondering what on earth to do. Her plan had been merely to embarrass the boy in front of everyone, but now she had apparently exposed him as a future Suzaku shichiseishi!
"My Houjun-chan, a warrior?" she whispered.
Houjun, meanwhile, was blinking and scratching the back of his head. "Da? Sho?" Then he glanced down. "Oh, you mean my legs? Hai, Mama gets mad at me making holes in 'em, too," he said with a smile.
A number of people face-faulted. Considering they were all sitting down at the time, that was quite a feat. Others, meanwhile, continued to stare.
Yen finally stood up to walk over to his son.
"Ano... right then. May I introduce to you all the Suzaku Celestial Warrior, Houjun?"
~*~
Yeah, I was feeling evil again. Could you tell? I decided it was time for Chiri to show he was a warrior, however silly the situation ended up being. (Coughs) Ah, well. Does anyone think this'll change the relationships between him and Hikou? Or him and Kouran, for that matter?
Note- I don't know whether anyone knew about him being a Seishi until later, but I'm adding it in since I thought it was right. So there. ^^;
And now... Time for self-promotions! (Clears throat) I recently uploaded a short story called The Riddle Song, concerning Hikou and Houjun during the time of the flood. It changes how Hikou dies a bit, but I'd like anyone who has some free time to please take a look at it. I rarely do song fics, after all, and I'd like to know I don't completely suck at it. ^^ That said, I hope you all enjoyed this.
~*~
"Houjun? Houjun, wake up!"
"Daaa...?"
"Houjun!"
The young boy opened his eyes to squint up towards the source of whoever was bugging him. He yawned. "Mama, what're ya..."
"Remember, Houjun-kun? Today you're going to school!"
"Oh, right- NANI!?
"Honestly," his mother said. She pulled him out of bed and proceeded to rummage through the pile of clothes on the floor near the door. "I hope you have a nice- ah, here we go." She held up a pair of leggings and a tunic. "You'll wear this today. You must make a nice impression, you know."
"On who?" he asked, still yawning. He sat back down on the bed. "Dad's the one teaching us. An' I'll know everyone else there!"
"You should still be prepared. You never know what may happen. Now get up, get that blasted hair of yours presentable, and get dressed. I'll get you some bread to eat on your way!"
Grumbling about how unfair the whole thing was, Houjun reluctantly stood up and changed into the clothes his mother ordered for him. He ran a hand over both knees once he'd dressed, shaking his head; his mother wouldn't like the small holes in them.
Ah, well. Not his problem!
The blue-haired boy made his way into the next room, where his mother handed him some bread.
"Now you'll behave, and listen carefully to your father, understand? Just because you're related doesn't mean he'll give you special treatment, you know!"
"Hai, hai," he mumbled. "Sure, Mama."
With that, he was hustled out the door, bread and all.
He sighed, and looked up at the sky. It was barely sunrise, with just enough light to make his way from his house onto the main road of his village. Trudging along, he began to nibble at his bread as he continued to mentally complain to himself about him having to get up so early.
After a few minutes, he met with his friend Hikou and with Ryu. Together, the three made their way to their 'school'.
The 'school' was just an old house that had been moved out of recently, but no one had lived in since. Ryu had recently taken to insisting that the ghost that haunted his house liked to stay in this abandoned place as well, but no one really believed him.
As the boys walked in, they saw that it was all one big room. Yen, Houjun's father, had gotten a number of pillows and mats for the children to sit on while they learned. They were all lined up in rows, with about four or five rows in total. Apparently, all the kids in the village were coming to this new 'school'.
Yen sat at the very front of the room, waiting for everyone to arrive.
Houjun looked around and saw that a lot of the village kids were already there, either wandering around the room or racing around outside. One kid he didn't know that well leaned against a wall, sleeping. Two others were splitting up their breakfast.
And...
Of course. There stood Akemi and Kouran, along with a couple other girls.
Houjun sighed.
"With any luck we won't be sittin' next to 'em," Hikou muttered.
Houjun nodded. "Dad says that in the capital, the schools split boys an' girls up to keep 'em from getting in trouble!"
"Good," Hikou and Ryu said.
"It seems everyone is here," Yen said suddenly. "Please, everyone, take a seat."
The kids all ignored him.
Yen sighed. Then he grabbed his staff and shook it, causing it to jingle softly.
All of the younger kids immediately hushed, looking wide-eyed at the 'jingly staff'- the older kids finally glanced over from their conversations, wondering why the younger children were so quiet.
"Everyone, please take a seat," Yen repeated.
This time, everyone hurried to obey.
"Let's go up in front," Hikou suggested. "They wouldn't dare sit near us! No one likes the front!"
"Hai, but it'll be worth it!" Houjun agreed.
"Jus' cause you guys are my friends," Ryu said hesitantly.
The three took a seat.
"Ne, Houjun, your hair's in my way," said someone behind them.
The blue-haired boy jumped, then turned around to see Kouran smiling at him. "Then move," he replied, and turned back around.
He felt her tug on his hair. "Aw, that's so mean, Houjun-chan! Don'cha think, Hikou-CHAN?"
Hikou turned to glare at her. "Shut up."
Akemi giggled. "You're both so mean!"
"Then what's so funny?" Ryu piped up.
The four looked at him, surprised he had jumped into the conversation. Then their attention was diverted as they heard the staff again.
"Ahem," Yen said. "You have all been taught by your parents for most of your lives, learning things that you'd need to know if you were to follow your family's ways of earning a living. However, the village has decided that since I, having the knowledge of Suzaku's priests, I can teach you more than your parents can.
We'll work on histories and logic; we'll occasionally wander into the woods so I can point out the good and bad plants to eat; we'll even work a bit on simple mathematics and bargaining." He heard a number of groans at this. "This is, of course, so you won't be tricked into buying something at a ridiculously high price in another city. Then we'll work on some miscellaneous things as- yes?"
A boy to the far left of Houjun had had his hand raised. "Ano, what is missile-ane-us?"
"Miscellaneous? It means other things that aren't quite as important as what I talked about before."
Yen cleared his throat again. "I'll begin with a story about how the priests live from day to day. How does that sound?"
Nobody had been really listening to him until they caught the word 'story'. After that, however, every eye was on Yen as he began to talk...
~*~
"Well, it ain't as bad as I thought it'd be," Hikou said.
Houjun looked up from eating his lunch. "Soo desu," he agreed. "It's actually kinda fun."
"Yeah, him telling stories is real fun!" Ryu said.
"Ne, Houjun, your pants..." Hikou pointed.
Houjun raised one eyebrow at his friend. Then he stood up so he could look down. He realized that the holes around his knees in the leggings were larger, probably from him sitting on the ground and shifting around so much. He shrugged. "Yeah. They're old, I think."
"Hope yer mom doesn't get too mad," Ryu said sympathetically.
"Yeah, me too," Houjun said. He reached down to touch his right kneecap. "Da... Maybe Dad'll save me."
"Speakin' of yer dad..." Ryu pointed to the doorway of the 'school', where Yen stood watching the children eat and play. "I think it's time t' go back in."
"Yeah, I guess so," Houjun agreed. He brushed off some of the dirt and crumbs he'd gotten on himself during lunch.
Kouran sauntered by then, looking a little too innocent for anyone's good. "Hiya, Houjun-chan," she said with a smile. "How ya doin'?"
"Da?" He blinked. "Ano... okay, I guess."
"Good." She giggled and walked towards the house. "See ya inside."
"Okay, that is SCARY," Hikou said, pointing after her. "What in Suzaku's she up to?" He frowned. "And was she hidin' somethin' in a pocket? Somethin' was moving in her dress!"
"I dunno," Houjun said. "Watch out, though!"
All three boys nodded seriously at this thought, then headed in for the rest of the day's lessons.
~*~
Kouran couldn't help but giggle again as Houjun warily took his seat in front of her again. She smiled at him. Then, when he had his attention on Yen, she reached into the folds of her skirt to pull out a tiny lizard.
"I don't like ya very much," she admitted quietly to it. "But Houjun-chan won't, either!"
"Eh? You say somethin', Kouran?" Houjun asked.
"Iie," she responded.
"Ano... da... okay..."
Now she waited until his attention was completely on his father again. Slowly, oh so slowly, she reached out with the lizard for the back of his shirt...
~*~
The class had gotten fairly sleepy about halfway through the later lessons. Mostly, Yen was busy talking about histories of some sort. While he was trying to keep it interesting, the children were simply tired of sitting in one place listening to the same person. Hikou was beginning to nod off, while Ryu was already asleep. Houjun, though he tried to fight off sleep, was also beginning to feel like he wouldn't make it...
Then, the calm atmosphere of the school was suddenly interrupted.
"DAAAAAAAAHAHAHA!"
Everyone turned with wide eyes to see that Houjun, wide-eyed, was frantically grabbing at his shirt as though trying to shake something out of it.
"GET IT OFF NO DAAAA!"
"Houjun? Wha?" Hikou asked, jerking awake.
Ryu continued to sleep peacefully, even when Houjun momentarily fell on top of him.
Yen, surprised at the interruption, asked, "What is going ON, Houjun?"
A few of the older girls in the far back began to squeal about how 'absolutely KAWAII that little boy up front' was, while the older boys sighed and rolled their eyes before going back to sleep.
Akemi and Kouran merely smiled at each other.
"DA! GET IT OFF NO DAHAHAA! DA!"
Then, after that unexpected occurrence, something even less expected happened.
Houjun began to feel a familiar warmth spread through his leg, and he managed to calm down enough to finally grab hold of the lizard that had been causing him so much discomfort and pull him out of his shirt. Sighing in relief, the boy felt the warmth calm him down further, and he turned sheepishly towards everyone else.
"Gomen nasai," he said, holding up the lizard. "This got into my shirt... ano... what are you all looking at?"
For everyone was staring at him, not in the exasperated way that he expected, but in an incredulous, even fearful manner that made him worry.
Then, finally, Hikou broke the silence by pointing at him. "You... leg... red... Sho! Suzaku... warrior... red... glow!" he summed up.
Everyone else seemed to agree with this statement, as a few other kids began to stammer something along the same lines.
"Red light... knee..."
"I know a warrior!"
"Me too, me too!" a little girl piped up.
Kouran, not really taking this possibility into consideration, was wondering what on earth to do. Her plan had been merely to embarrass the boy in front of everyone, but now she had apparently exposed him as a future Suzaku shichiseishi!
"My Houjun-chan, a warrior?" she whispered.
Houjun, meanwhile, was blinking and scratching the back of his head. "Da? Sho?" Then he glanced down. "Oh, you mean my legs? Hai, Mama gets mad at me making holes in 'em, too," he said with a smile.
A number of people face-faulted. Considering they were all sitting down at the time, that was quite a feat. Others, meanwhile, continued to stare.
Yen finally stood up to walk over to his son.
"Ano... right then. May I introduce to you all the Suzaku Celestial Warrior, Houjun?"
~*~
Yeah, I was feeling evil again. Could you tell? I decided it was time for Chiri to show he was a warrior, however silly the situation ended up being. (Coughs) Ah, well. Does anyone think this'll change the relationships between him and Hikou? Or him and Kouran, for that matter?
Note- I don't know whether anyone knew about him being a Seishi until later, but I'm adding it in since I thought it was right. So there. ^^;
And now... Time for self-promotions! (Clears throat) I recently uploaded a short story called The Riddle Song, concerning Hikou and Houjun during the time of the flood. It changes how Hikou dies a bit, but I'd like anyone who has some free time to please take a look at it. I rarely do song fics, after all, and I'd like to know I don't completely suck at it. ^^ That said, I hope you all enjoyed this.