Chapter 4 : First assignment

Title : Onnagata
Author : darkkingdom
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 comment : narration by Kunzite

My human protégé is doing very well. I shouldn't be surprised since I'm the one who recruited him, but I expected more problems about his adaptation to the Dark Kingdom, or to work with the youma. I usually avoid to summon them among the Earthian army, because it makes soldiers uncomfortable.

But this boy fits in just right, from what the youma tell me. And he works hard, as I see myself when I check his training. I watched some openly and others from my quarters, and he doesn't show any less determination when I'm not here. More ferocity, maybe.

I'd think I scared the hell out of him, but he was ready to die the day I picked him up, so it must be something else. He has a definite affinity with blades - he loves to stab things. And a taste for sneaky moves. And blood thirst.

I told him I wouldn't turn my back on him, and it's getting reinforced now that he's learning to kill, and being so enthusiastic about it. I must find a way to make him bound to me, but I don't know what would work with him.

He has no sense of family or clan, as he proved. I can't call to his sense of honor after having had him killing his sensei. And he's more useful to me if he's not bound by these silly principles anyway. I just hope he will enjoy his life as my spy enough not to want to risk this position by betraying me.

It's time to send him for his first assignment, anyway. I warned the youma so they could give him last advices adapted to the situation, and I take some time to brief him myself.

He's as distrustful as ever when he enters my quarters. Maybe more, actually. I wish I could test his capacities on a less dangerous mission first, but unfortunately I don't have that choice.

"Ready to exercise your new talents?"

"Hai, Lord Kunzite."

Sugary polite when he wants, the little snake. It rather amuses me that his underlying despise is so transparent, though. It looks as if he is testing me, not the other way around. For his own sake and for my plans, I hope he can act better than that in front of real enemies.

"The Yoshimoto clan Daimyou is organizing a big celebration for the New Year. He invited many of his vassals, as well as courtesans and actors to entertain them. You will take the place of one of these actors."

He doesn't seem very pleased with it. But he may be more useful than he thinks there, whether he likes it or not.

"The province of Tosa is my next target, according to Queen Metallia's strategy. But I suspect Tanzanite, the second Tennou in rank, to be plotting with them to set a trap for me. I want you to use the New Year's feasts to inquire about the current state of Yoshimoto's forces, and about Tanzanite's possible plans. You will transmit your information to Saiyuki, who will wait down the river, out of the town. Questions?"

He thinks only shortly before asking.

"If Saiyuki is meant to stay around, why not sending her directly? She could shape-change into a courtesan and get information on her side."

"If Tanzanite really is in contact with Yoshimoto, he may have set alarm spells or guardians that would detect a youma entering the town. That's why I needed a human spy."

He frowns.

"Couldn't they be triggered by me after the time I spent here?"

I am glad that he thinks right. I would be even more pleased if he showed some confidence into my decisions. I was scheming before that child was even born on the Earth surface.

Ah well. He will learn.

"I doubt he'd bother checking humans. We don't normally use them for important tasks, they're not reliable enough."

He glares at my little tease. His moods are too volatile and obvious. That makes him vulnerable to manipulation, especially here. But for now, it's also refreshingly entertaining.

"Besides, it's the inner magic and nature that these spells would detect. You are still human, no matter how long you stayed here. He will probably be cautious of human spies sent by other parties, but there is no spell to track intentions."

"But the word must have spread about the Murasaki theater killings, and that you were there and that I was not seen after it. I'm easily recognizable. Other actors and followers of the Way (1) might make the connection?"

Indeed, they might. But that's easy to turn around.

"I thought of that."

I hold his head between my hands and concentrate. His hair darkens and straightens under my palms, while his green eyes turn to brown.

The make-up spell alone didn't require me to touch him, but he needs not to know that. The other spell, on the other side, is more tricky.

He stands tense until I let him go, not even questioning what I do. I conjure up a mirror next to us so he can see the result. He looks at his reflection with a frown, then after a while comments :

"I thought you wanted me to use my charms to lure Yoshimoto's friends into talking. What have I left to stand out without my distinctive looks?"

Standing behind him, I look at him in the mirror, his incredibly pretty face where only the skin tone was modified by my spell, the proud stance of his slender body. As narcissistic as he appears, the boy has no real idea of his appeal, eventually.

Some guests may have liked the novelty and transgression about his foreign look, but even more will fall for a more familiar beauty type. Human beings don't like the difference.

"Don't worry about that. The same old tricks will work, regardless of your hair color. Remember when you told me guests liked you better with your make-up."

He gives me a gray look in the mirror. His head just reaches my mouth level, and I'm distracted by the scent of his hair. From what he said, he's reaching adulthood according to this time's standards. But there's something very young about his insecurity, and very old in his eyes.

I start to close my arms around his thin waist, and bend my move in the end to just cast another spell. He doesn't react any more, absently watching his training uniform under my hands dissolving into energy threads that re-assemble themselves into an elegant silken kimono with a winter pattern.

I begin to wonder if his unstable feelings are not contagious. I find it hard not to let my thoughts wander, with him being so close and no longer hostile. I'll have to resort to a youma's services tonight again, and Saiyuki will be gone to watch over him.

It's as far as I can stretch the session. I call Saiyuki, and she teleports them both to Tosa.

To be continued...

Notes :
(1) the Way : Shudo or Wakashudo, the Way of the Youth, is how was called a tradition of relationships between grown men and male adolescents that was vivid at that time in Japan