'He killed your father.'
Byakko had never known his father all that well. He had been a child, almost a baby in shikigami terms. He had been ten, about Tenkou's age, and his mind had been filled by games and fun. He remembered his mother quite clearly, but his father…? The Wind God had always been busy, had been everywhere but at home, and all Byakko remembered was a huge figure, a deep voice, and a tail he loved to play with. No face, no special features. Just that.
Walking along the paths that snaked through the immense garden he arrived at the almost endless, covered bridge that crossed a huge lake and ended up on the other side of the body of water. Instead of following the bridge, Byakko walked along the shore and in the end he stood in front of the observatory, gazing up the impressive building.
Rikugo's home.
Rikugo, who had been in the war as well.
Rikugo.
Byakko's feet took him into the observatory, past the huge depictations
of the stars, charts of the movements of the planets, zodiacs and other
astrological things to the inner chamber and into the palace behind the
impressive construction. He found Rikugo where he had expected him: his
study.
The tall, blond astrologer was apparently deep in the study of a scroll,
but when Byakko entered he looked up, smiling a welcome.
"Byakko. What can I do for you?"
"Got a minute?" the white tiger asked, gesturing at the scrolls.
"Sure. It's nothing important."
"I'd like to know about the war… about Touda. What happened back then, Rikugo?"
The older shikigami closed the scroll, face serious. "He killed thousands of people, Byakko. The history books tell the story."
"I read the books. I want to know why he did it, Rikugo. What set him off?"
"I don't know that."
"But you were at his trial! You were there when they sentenced him to life in prison!" Byakko argued.
"I was there, yes. I heard the sentence. Touda never gave an explanation or a reason."
"Because no one asked him," Byakko snapped.
A mild frown adorned the otherwise smooth features. "No, no one asked him. Why do you ask these questions, Byakko? Why now?"
"Because I want to know."
"I can't help you, Byakko. I was there when it happened, but I don't know why he did it. Maybe you should ask him."
"Maybe." Byakko rose and turned to leave. "Thanks, Rikugo."
"You're welcome," was the mild answer.
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Touda wasn't at the palace. He wasn't anywhere in GensouKai center and Byakko had looked everywhere the fire shikigami usually was. He finally decided to drop by the only place he could still think of – the cabin.
Byakko arrived at the little hut that was Touda's 'home', noticing from the strong aura that the serpent was present. Nobody had answered his questions any further, not even Rikugo, and he felt deeply confused. So Touda had killed, had even killed his father, whom he could barely remember, he still didn't understand why. Why? This question was running around in his head for days now. Nobody knew. Nobody had dared to stop and ask.
Touda had killed his father.
Damn if he didn't have a right to know the reason.
Byakko threw open the door.
And was stopped by the cold blade of a dagger at his throat.
"Byakko! Are you suicidal storming in like this?" Touda's voice rumbled as he pulled away the blade. "You know I can't sense you properly."
A soft kiss was placed on his lips, almost apologetic for the attack, but then Touda pulled back, seeming to have noticed his tension.
"Something wrong?"
"I need to talk to you, Touda. I need to know why."
Touda made an inviting gesture and Byakko took it, sitting down on the futon that was spread in one corner of the cabin. He was still shocked to see Touda living that way. A steaming mug was placed in front of him and Byakko took it, realizing just now he was shivering.
He didn't know whether it was from the attack or from the knowledge, from Sohryu's words.
He killed your father.
"Why what?"
"Why did you kill my father?" Byakko blurted.
There was a sharp intake of breath from Touda. He turned away from him.
"Touda?"
"You know," the serpent said hoarsely. "I lost control over myself… he probably was among the unfortunate people who stood in my way and tried to stop me. I didn't recognize who was who. I'm sorry, if that is of any help to you."
"No, not really." Byakko sipped at the tea, seeing Touda wince. "Why did you do it in the first place? What caused it?"
"You're the first to ask," Touda muttered.
"I hope I'm the first to get an answer. If anyone knows it's you, right?"
Touda watched him from behind his visor closely, then shook his head sadly. "You really want to know?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because it's part of your past. It's got to do with who you are, why you are, and because it's the reason for this…" Byakko gestured at the visor, a sad expression in his face. "I want to know you, Touda. All of you."
The other shikigami watched him silently, then nodded. "All right." Touda sat down beside him, eyes on the floor, and started to talk, slowly.
"As you have probably learned, the war was almost over. All that was left was to sign the peace contract. What you probably don't know is the custom of sending over a hostage to the enemy during peace negotiations. The name of our hostage was Keijin. He was of high rank, that was common."
Touda's voice trailed off and Byakko felt his unease. There was something behind this story – and it was really, really bad.
"Keijin was a white dragon, a wind shikigami, but he was such a gentle soul. He loved life and… and he was too damn young to be in a war!" Touda spat.
Byakko decided to remain silent and just listen. For the serpent to react this emotionally there had to be much more.
"He didn't have lizard eyes like the rest of us snakes and dragons; his were gray, and there was only a slight slit in the pupil. His eyes – they could dance like quicksilver or darken like a thunderstorm cloud with little silver lightning when he was angry or… they were so expressive."
Byakko blinked confused. Nobody spoke like that of… a friend, maybe? But…
"The last time I saw those eyes they were broken, still reflecting the horror Keijin must have felt in his last hours."
So the dragon had been killed – why held hostage?
"We were ready to sign the contract when I received a package," Touda continued, voice levelly now. "When I opened it… it was Keijin's head. I… I went to claim his body, and they sent me to where it was, and… it was still the way had had left it. They had tortured him to death, violated him, broken him. The… smell of their perverted pleasure was still fresh, still clinging to his dead body." Touda inhaled deeply. "The next thing I know I was looking at Tenkuu's walls from the inside of my cell. I didn't know what I had done, I learned later that I must have run amok."
Byakko swallowed hard, placing the meanwhile cold mug carefully on the floor, before he reached out to his lover.
"Who was he to you?" he asked softly.
"I loved him," was the honest answer. No hesitation, no shame. "Nobody knew that. Keijin was… he was the cool counterpart to my heat, he could soothe me, and he was so gentle, happy – he was so much like you. He was willing to put up with my temper, and one word of him was enough to cool me down. He was so young, barely twenty, and he…"
"He loved you?"
Touda nodded. "When I saw his battered body, realized what had happened… I felt something snap inside me."
Byakko shook his head inwardly. "Nobody knows that?"
"No."
"Holy – that's…! You had a damn good reason. You were betrayed…"
"No. There is no such thing as a 'damn good reason' to kill so many innocents."
"But Sohryu has to know, you have to tell him…" Byakko tried again.
"NO!"
Touda's hand shot forward, fingers curling around Byakko's wrist, and the tiger was able to see wide eyes behind the visor.
"Sohryu mustn't know, ever."
"What? Why?"
There was a short pause before Touda whispered an answer.
"Keijin was Sohryu's firstborn."