"You won."
"But I only have one piece left!" Tsuzuki protested. "You have three."
"That doesn't matter. Throughout the game you announced a new level a lot more often than I did. You won by points, my friend. You mastered me."
Tsuzuki stared at him, dumbfound. "Huh?"
Genbu chuckled slightly. "You won," he repeated.
"Oh... wow..."
The old shikigami rose with the help of his walking stick and bowed his head. "You were a worthy opponent, Tsuzuki Asato. I knew you had potential the day you beat my student."
Tsuzuki blinked. "I... that's..." He stopped, frowned, then his eyes widened in shock.
With an almost helpless expression he looked pleadingly at the other two shikigami present, meeting the equally shocked red eyes of Byakko.
"You can't mean... Genbu, I never challenged you!" Tsuzuki protested.
"You did. I chose to test you through this game and have found you worthy of my service, Tsuzuki. I am yours, master." Genbu raised a hand at the renewed protest. "I have chosen my path, young one. I have chosen you as my master."
The young shinigami paled dramatically, shaking his head in disbelief.
"No..." he groaned. "I didn't want that. Genbu, I didn't want to challenge you to a fight like that..."
"Well, you did, and we're both bound to this outcome." Genbu looked at his new master. "I'm honored, my friend."
Tsuzuki swallowed. "Byakko..." he asked helplessly.
The tiger shook his head. "It's a done deal."
"But I didn't know..."
"You challenged, he accepted," Byakko told him.
"But..."
Genbu walked over to the still seated man, expression serious. He leaned onto his stick, holding the non-human, violet gaze.
"You won this challenge fair and square. You're the first to beat me on this level, and believe me, Tsuzuki, I have actually been challenged before. I will not go back on the promise of a challenge, on the contract this forms between the two of us. I will serve you faithfully. I hope you will accept me with the same love as you did the others."
"Genbu..." Tsuzuki stuttered. "I... I will accept you. I'm honored."
The small shikigami bowed again, smiling. "So it is settled. Now !" He turned and looked at the shocked countenances of the other two. "I think it calls for some food and drink. We played for hours and I'm parched!"
Rikugo cleared his throat, still stunned beyond words, and finally went to find a servant. Byakko remained, shaking his head at what had happened.
Tsuzuki sat on the floor, looking at the board game. He was pale. Byakko walked over to him and knelt next to his master. He reached out and touched the young man, smiling a little.
"Tsuzuki?"
Huge, violet eyes met his.
"It's okay," the tiger whispered. "It was Genbu's choice to accept the challenge."
Tsuzuki sighed. "I wouldn't have really challenged him," he murmured.
Gentle hands stroked over the pale skin. "We know that."
The shinigami rose and Byakko rose with him. "I need to get some air."
Byakko hesitated, but when his master gave him this pleading look, he smiled and accompanied him to the outside. There he changed into his alternate form and the two were off into the sky.
#######
They had returned to the canyon and Tsuzuki reclined against a fallen tree, watching the water of the near-by river rush past him. Byakko had settled down beside him Indian-style, waiting, now and then gazing at him. There was a comfortable silence between them and Tsuzuki was infinitely glad his shikigami had come along. He needed the space, but he didn't want to be alone.
Being alone hurt.
And the memories of his latest partner came back.
"He left," he whispered, almost surprised that he had said it out loud.
Byakko tilted his head. "Who?"
"Imaki."
"Your partner?"
A nod.
"Why?"
"He said he needed a different job, that he couldn't work as a shinigami."
Byakko's eyes narrowed a little. "Oh."
"We were partners for four months, Byakko. Four measly months." Tsuzuki drew a shuddering breath, feeling the constriction clamp around his heart again. "It wasn't very long, but I liked him. He wasn't so bad, really. He just freaked the first time I used Suzaku to help us out. He has a mid-level shikigami himself and when she appeared he was really shocked. I thought everyone knew about you, but he didn't really believe it, I guess."
Violet eyes closed and Tsuzuki listened to the rush of the water, the soft whisper of the winds, and he wished he could focus only on those peaceful sounds. As it was, his mind was in turmoil and it was hard to think past the pain of abandonment.
"He said it wasn't normal to command a God. Or two. Now I've got Genbu, too."
He started to tremble.
"He hated me for being different."
Strong arms curled around him, embraced him, drew him to a firm chest. He fell against the Protector of the West, felt a dry sob leave his throat, and Byakko held him tightly.
"You're not different," Byakko whispered fiercely. "You're you, Tsuzuki Asato. We love you as you are. Everyone who can't see past prejudice and such childish fear is an idiot."
He clung to his support, to the first shikigami he had won here. Tsuzuki didn't care how weak he appeared to any of the ones serving him, to his friends, because here he was never judged. They were true friends, would never abandon him, and he trusted each and every one with his life.
Byakko stroked over his head, carding long fingers through the tousled
strands.
It was how Tsuzuki fell asleep, exhausted. Byakko watched over him
with alert eyes, all senses primed on his master.
It wasn't much later that Byakko felt Suzaku's arrival. The female shikigami approached openly, her sword strapped to her back, and she smiled when she discovered the two men.
"Hey!" she said softly. "How is he?"
"Shocked."
She settled down next to them and ran a gentle hand over the tousled hair. "Understandable. I always knew Genbu was a devious old geezer, but to voluntarily let Tsuzuki challenge him... why?"
"We don't really know."
Byakko rested a hand on his master's body, feeling the warmth, each breath. It was very reassuring to have the young shinigami this close. He loved Tsuzuki and would do everything for him. Just like Suzaku. Why Genbu had willingly maneuvered himself into the position of a challenged shikigami, no one knew. What he might gain from it, it was speculation. Byakko just knew that he himself had only won from this partnership, that he had grown.
He watched Suzaku as she caressed Tsuzuki, a warm, loving smile on her features, how Tsuzuki unconsciously leaned into the caress in his sleep, and he had to smile himself.
Whatever Genbu's reasons had been, they were his own. Sohryu would probably go through the roof, but so be it.
#######
Rikugo scowled down at his sensei, dark eyes narrowed, expression more than misgiving.
"What were you thinking?"
Genbu gave him a mild smile. "I found it an interesting challenge."
"You manipulated him!"
"No. He freely spoke the challenge."
Rikugo chuckled darkly. "Because you conned him into it, old man."
Genbu gave him another toothy smile. "It was my game. You always lost, so why would I con anyone into playing against me... knowing I'd win?"
The blond glared at him. Sure, the game had been true. Genbu had played as he always did, with cunning and deviousness. But Tsuzuki had bested him.
How?
"Then how could he beat you?" he asked.
"Because Tsuzuki Asato is two people. He is the one you see, the one who interacts with everyone. And he's the warrior, the one who is both a strategist and an instinctual being. That instinctual being challenged me. That man entered the game and won against me. You are a strategist, Rikugo, but not flexible enough to see the game as what it is. He is flexible, he is the man who absorbed himself in the levels, accepted the rules, and adapted quickly each time."
Rikugo rubbed his forehead. He knew he was no good at instinctual decisions. He was a thinker, a strategist, but when it came to gut feeling he usually lost. For him the battle was one of the mind, not the heart.
"What do you think to gain from having a master?" the astrologer finally demanded. "You pledged servitude to a shinigami. You never did so before!"
"So have you," was the quiet reminder.
"I was challenged!"
"So was I."
Rikugo shook his head in frustration. "You never told him that the game was a challenge, Genbu!"
"You, as the impartial watcher, didn't protest."
"Because I was as clueless as Tsuzuki!"
Genbu just sipped at his sake, looking satisfied to the world.
"Genbu!" Rikugo exclaimed. "Why did you do it? Why did you accept a master?"
"For all your Seeing abilities, you are blind, my friend," was the simple answer. "Don't you see the potential in this young man? Don't you see his power? Can't you feel his power coursing through you?"
Rikugo stared at him. "I can't believe you did it for such selfish purposes," he whispered.
Of course he felt his master's power. Of course he had Seen what lurked beneath that innocence and child-like exterior. He knew what Tsuzuki harbored inside of him, this dark power, this potential.
"Everything we do in life is selfish. Why did you accept his challenge, Rikugo?"
The astrologer hesitated. Yes, why? Why had he agreed to the challenge? Because he had thought no one could beat him? Maybe. But something about the young man had fascinated him.
It still did.
"I wanted to get to know him," he murmured.
"So did I. I saw what he has achieved so far. He bested Byakko, Suzaku und you. All of you are powerful and still, such a young shinigami gained you as his guardian spirits." Genbu placed the sake cup onto the low table. "I want to get to know his potential. It's still developing, he's very young, and in time I believe he can have all of us."
Rikugo's eyes widened and he could barely refrain from snapping open
his additional eyes. "What? All twelve of us? Even Sohryu?"
Genbu chuckled. "Even Sohryu. He can do it, he has the power, the strength
and the energy. He might not realize it, he might not like what he touches
when he really goes deep to draw on what he has to, but he is what he is.
You know it more than I do. You Saw him."
Rikugo nodded. He had. He had Looked into that wonderful soul and he had seen the difference, and it had hooked him to Tsuzuki.
All twelve.
He shook his head. Well, maybe Tsuzuki could win one or two more; he was powerful enough to attract others high level shikigami, but not Sohryu. The dragon would never accept the challenge, let alone lose against a shinigami. Tsuzuki was strong, but Rikugo doubted the young man could win against this dragon.
And there was one last high level shikigami no one would ever have: Touda. The fire serpent was rotting in his eternal prison, his name erased from all official lists.
But no, Rikugo decided, Tsuzuki would never challenge any other shikigami. He had four now, three of the Gods.
Why would he try for more?