Author : dark kingdom
Email : kataki2001-at-yahoo.fr
Fandom : Sailor Moon (anime) Dark Kingdom
Pairing : Kunzite / Zoisite (they're only just meeting here...)
Rating : a bit of violence and hints of sex
Copyright : Zoisite, Kunzite, Sailor Moon and the rest are the property of Naoko Takeuchi.
Author's comments : Obviously, as often, this version is nourished from not only the anime Kunzite and Zoisite, but also a movie I've seen... Anyone who finds the movie title will win my admiration ;)
There are a few Japanese words along the way, but I provided a glossary in the end...
Murasaki, the old theater sensei, introduced the onnagata I'd required in the room.
The young man still wore his full stage costume, and his thick make-up made his expression rather static. I needed no more than the sharp look in his eyes to identify a murderous feel. What puzzled me was that it wasn't as much towards me as towards the old man.
That would definitely be an interesting meeting.
"Lord Kunzite, you're a man of taste. Shiro is the most gifted onnagata who graced this theater."
He left us, walking back with a more servile bow than necessary, and closing the paper door behind him.
I whispered a spell, black energy briefly radiated to weave a net along the walls, then vanished. The actor watched the process frozen in awe.
"Haven't you been told who I am?"
Shiro gathered himself and replied defiantly.
"Lord Kunzite, leader of Queen Metallia's Shitennou. Many daimyou came here before you", he added in a jaded voice.
I walked to him and started removing the pins holding his thick black wig.
"None of them was from the Dark Kingdom."
He had the composure of someone touched by death, but he dared not to escape, for fear it would make things worse.
"You've never seen an energy field before, obviously."
He nodded, reluctantly conceding me that small victory.
"It will just ensure that no one can spy on us, or interrupt us."
He slightly contracted, but he was too proud to show his fear. He wasn't small compared to his fellows, but I towered him of a good hand's length.
I might have reassured him that I am more fond of women, and that my interest for him had nothing to do with what he and his sensei assumed. But I rather enjoyed to make him fret. And for my purpose it was useful to see how he could deal with threat, stress, and unnatural circumstances.
Would he fail to my requirements, he would have reasons to worry anyway.
I removed the last pin and the wig, revealing a mass of copper gold hair, tightly knit on the back of his head. I released a lock of hair, bringing it close to Shiro's green eye.
"You don't look like anyone else here."
Shiro, who carefully avoided eye-contact since I had come within reach, looked up to me boldly.
"You neither."
I smirked and proceeded to clean up the white make-up from his face.
"Well I am not from here. What is your excuse?"
A greater distance appeared in his expression.
"My father was not from here either. Well, I think so. Only my mother could tell you so, but she never told me and I haven't seen her since I was a little boy."
His voice dared me to make derogatory comments. It was obviously a sensitive topic to him. One that probably alienated him in this xenophobic society, which was just a benefit for me.
"That is why your skin is so fair, too."
He seemed taken aback by the statement and gave me his first non-aggressive look, and an indirect answer.
"Guests usually like me with make-up."
"I like better to know who I am dealing with."
I dropped the cloth I had used to clean his skin and started to undo the elaborated knots on his stage kimono.
"Guests I've seen tonight are lured by the illusion of a woman. I'd rather have the real thing. Or something different altogether."
My deliberate smile seemed to raise back his fears rather than soothing them.
As the silken kimono finally dropped at his feet, leaving him naked except for a loincloth, he asked tentatively in his real voice, a soprano not as affected as his girlish stage voice.
"What do you think you're having here?"
I took a step back to give him a full-on look before answering. He was athletic, under that heavy costume. Not bulk, and he would never be, but not as fragile as some of his moves made him look.
"What is your training exactly?"
His hands moved nervously on his sides as if he refrained from covering himself.
"You don't strike me as one for polite metaphors. You really are asking about my actor's training?"
I admired his courage to talk back to me.
"What truth can you face that you wouldn't dare calling by its name? Yes, I really am talking about your professional training. I can see that in addition to arts, it includes physical training, as you demonstrated on stage earlier. Did you also learn to handle weapons?"
He may have been suspicious, but he was only too happy to delay whatever would follow.
"Not really. I did try, but only the actors in charge of male roles receive a proper training in that."
"So how are you supposed to be able to use the tantou hidden under the futon? Against a Dark Kingdom Tennou, no less?"
He turned blank. I couldn't resist to tease him some more.
"Come on, tell me. Did you expect you could kill me so easily?"
The transformation in his eyes was fascinating. The initial terror was washed away by fury and hatred.
"I was supposed to strike while your attention would be 'diverted'. I don't think the old man would mourn my death too long if I failed. I've never been obedient enough for his liking. He's probably relieved that for once, my trying to kill a guest would get him money instead of troubles."
The scornful speech amused me, but the last words peeked my curiosity.
"Who asked for my death?"
"Do I have anything to earn if I tell you?"
That boy was resourceful. Even in the hands of a demon with magical powers and accused of murder attempt, he still bribed for time.
I was tempted to go with the usual threat, "A quick death" or something similar, but his reactions fit my other plans.
"Do you think you could actually kill someone?"
"It can't be that hard."
It wasn't. I held his right hand out towards the futon. The dagger flew right to my palm.
"You're right, it's not hard. You have to aim right, though. Especially in your case since you can hardly count on your strength to take the advantage on your opponent."
I stepped to him and put my left hand behind his smooth neck, holding him closer.
"With a short blade like this, your best bet is to get close or draw your target near, and strike under the ribs, in an ascending move, to reach the heart."
I demonstrated the maneuver, pressing only slightly the tip of the dagger against his skin, right under the last rib where there was just soft flesh to protect organs.
He swallowed with difficulty, yet still defying my look.
My smile grew wider at this and I released him, handing him the dagger.
"So, since it's so easy, why didn't you kill Murasaki?"
Again, he looked startled, but he still took the weapon – just in case? I had to appreciate the thought.
"You hate him. Right?"
He frowned.
"They would have my skin if I tried anything against him. And even if I could kill him, and then escape, what good would it do to me? In my position, having a single master is the only alternative to more unpleasant situations. At least here my art gives me added value. It used to protect me a little. "
"Not enough that they would spare you a dangerous mission, obviously…"
He clenched his jaws, looking down at the blade.
"Well, you asked to see me, I heard. And since I'm what I am, I can't hide my age, and I'm reaching the time where I'll have to shave my bangs and lose half of my appeal. Plus, I told you. I'm not obedient enough."
"Which means?"
"He's had complaints from guests lately. I cut my last one with a dagger like this. Nothing too deep, but my patience has been growing thin… and so does the old man's."
That was so accurate. It made me snigger.
"So if I call Murasaki here, you shouldn't have problems to kill him?"
"Is that your revenge? Have my downfall be by my own hands?"
"Murasaki's death is my revenge on him. Your killing him would be the proof that you can be useful to me."
His eyes widened in surprise. As I half expected, though, he wasn't shocked or horrified, rather hopeful if anything. And then immediately became suspicious.
"Your army is said to be one of the most important by number by now, and growing. Why recruiting in a theater?"
"I have enough raw force. But I've watched how the audience look at you. They see you as a harmless, pretty little thing. And I've watched how you look at them. I wouldn't turn my back on you."
He was still weighing the proposition.
"I've also watched how you move. Precisely, swiftly. And I'm sure you can make your way everywhere. With your acting skills, it makes you a good candidate to become a spy. Of course you need training in the art of fighting, but that's my specialty. I'm not promising you an easy life, but if you prove useful to me, you might like it better than this one."
He thought for a few seconds then whispered.
"What if I fail?"
Ah, well. No need to lie to him.
"I will probably kill you. But unless you give me reasons to be cruel, I will do it quickly. But in the meantime you will have had the occasion to get your own revenge of Murasaki."
Shiro sniggered and looked at the dagger in his hand for a while, then up to me.
"Call him."
To be continued...
Glossary :
Sensei : Professor, master
onnagata : "in the shape of a woman" : male actors specialized in female roles, in Japanese theater.
Shitennou : "The Four Kings of Sky" (Tennou = King of Sky), Metallia's army higher leaders
Daimyou : feudal lord
tantou : short dagger made in the style of katana