La Renaissance de Son
"Sasame?! What?" Mannen snapped, grabbing Goh's arm. "He's Sasame?! But.. Sasame.. but he's still alive.. why is this.. what the.. I don't.." Mannen stammered, looking from Kei to Goh to the child.
"Hush, Mannen." Hayate snapped, walking past both Goh and Mannen, stopping behind Himeno. "You are Sasame, correct?" Hayate asked, but he said it in a manner that seemed like he didn't really want an answer.
"..I am Sasame, Leafe of Sound.." The young boy piped. "I was conceived after the previous Sasame died protecting Takako.. Even though he returned to life and the side of Leafenia, he can no longer serve as a Leafe Knight."
"..This is true." Said Kei, nodding. "Sasame did lose his power to prét after Himeno revived him.. so it only makes sense that a new Knight of Sound be created." He lowered his eyes, a rare smile playing on his lips. "Goh and I have felt you stirring for some time.."
As Kei said this, Goh reddened a little. Mannen blinked, placing his hands on his hips. "Come to think of it, I have been feeling like something new was in me nowadays.. I guess that was the Leafe telling me that my comrade was reborn."
"..But how did you wake?" Asked Hayate. Sasame raised his eyes, smiling sheepishly.
"The.. Leafe woke me.. it told me to seek out my fellow Knights.. so that I may begin my training. It also told me to see the former Knight of Sound and speak to him.." Sasame answered, reaching up and clutching the sleeves of the cardigan Himeno had wrapped around him.
"Hey, wait.. Leafe Knights are born as infants! He's.. not an infant." Hajime piped in, turning his gaze to Kei and Hayate, who looked at each other.
The young boy tilted his head to the side, averting his gaze from the Leafe Knights. As he did this, Kei nodded his head, "Yes, that is true. However, very, very rarely, a Leafe Knight will be born older than usual.. I do not understand why.. but I know the last case of it was the previous Goh. The Leafe woke him in the form of a twelve year old. So, it is not unheard of.. but it is not common."
Goh bit his lip, moving away from Kei as the Knight of Light mentioned the previous incarnation of the Knight of Fire.
"Never mind that now.. we can fill in the blanks later, guys. We need to get you dressed first of all." Himeno stated, patting Sasame's shoulders lightly. She turned to look at Goh, who was gazing silently. "Goh.." She began as Goh darted back into consciousness, "Do you still have any of Hajime or Shin's old clothing?" She asked.
Goh paused for a moment, looking up at the ceiling in thought. "I might.. I'll go check." He replied, pushing past Hayate and Kei to leave the kitchen through the living room door. As he did, Hajime, Mannen and Shin flooded past Kei and Hayate to get a closer look at the new arrival. Hayate looked to Kei, giving him a slight nod, and Kei blinked in response, turning and following Goh out of the room.
Kei walked through the living room, running his fingers along the armrest of the white couch. Near the couch was a large entertainment center, which was quite obviously used many a-time by Mannen, Hajime and Shin. Directly across from the entertainment center were three doors, one against the far back wall, and two on the right wall. The two rooms belonged to the three youngest knights, Hajime and Shin took one, and Mannen took the other. The last room, the master bedroom, belonged to him and Goh.
He approached their bedroom, stepping inside and looking around for Goh. There was a large king sized bed with white and tan sheets, and several large white pillows along the right side wall. On either side of the bed sat an oak bedside table, each with a lamp on it. Along the back wall were two large windows with white curtains and shades. The shades were pulled up and the windows were partially opened. On the left side of the room, a flat screen television hung on the wall and to the left of the television was a door that led into the large bathroom. Directly to Kei's left, were a polished oak dresser drawer, and another door that led into the walk-in closet. The door to the closet was open and the light was on, so Kei assumed that Goh was in there.
Sure enough, Goh was in the back of the walk in closet, reaching up over the clothing hangers to take a cardboard box off of the shelf above. Kei leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms, "Did you find anything?" He asked. Goh looked over at Kei, smiling before setting the box down.
"I think I have some of their old clothes in these boxes.." Goh answered, kneeling down to open the box. He began to root through the box as Kei approached him, sitting down next to Goh. It was obvious that Goh was avoiding Kei's gaze, and Kei sighed lightly and rested a slender hand over Goh's hand. Goh paused, looking up at Kei, who gave him almost a smile.
"Are you alright?" Kei asked, causing Goh to look away again shyly.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Goh said, returning a question as a response.
"..Because you always have a mix of happiness and sadness when a new Leafe Knight is born." Kei replied.
He shrugged, pulling his hand away to continue sorting through the box. "It is true.. I mean.. seeing a new Knight just reminds me that one of my friends had to die for the new Knight to be here.. and it's hard.. even though Sasame is still alive.." Goh answered. Kei said nothing, nodding in response. Goh smiled, lifting a bundle of clothes out of the box. "There.. I knew I still had some of their stuff." He said, rising to his feet and moving to exit the closet. As he did, Kei reached out and took hold of his wrist. Goh turned to look to his fellow knight, blinking.
Kei tugged on Goh's wrist, causing him to turn his entire body and face the Knight of Light. Kei reached up, running a hand along Goh's cheek lightly. He pushed himself up, meeting their lips together in a short, affectionate kiss, Kei adding a light pressure to Goh's lips before pulling away.
Goh blinked dreamily, smiling in response. "What was that for?" He asked.
"..I just hoped it would cheer you up." Kei said flatly. Goh smiled, charmed by how Kei would show his affection every now and then, usually at the most unexpected times. Those five years ago, Goh had come forth with his feelings for Kei, and not in the most inconspicuous manner. After that day they were nearly inseparable, but they preferred to not flaunt their relationship, and it was nearly another year before anyone really knew that the two were a couple. However, that was a different story entirely..
The light flipped off, and then on, alerting Kei and Goh to the door.
"Hey, twinkle twins.. Did you find any clothes yet?" Mannen asked. He stood in the doorway of the closet, a look of antipathy on his face. Kei sighed and stepped quietly out of the room, leaving Goh standing next to the box holding the bundle of clothes.
"Yeah," Goh answered, looking down at the clothes. "Hopefully they fit him.. he's awfully small." He said warily, stepping out of the closet, flipping the light switch to turn off the closet light. He shot a dark glare at Mannen before he left the room, saying, "What have I told you about coming into our room? You're not supposed to just.. Walk in."
Mannen rolled his eyes, averting his gaze out the window. "Well, it's not like you two could be boinking or anything right now, sheesh."
Goh sighed in response, exiting the room and turning the bedroom light off as he went. Mannen followed him rather quickly, practically jogging into the kitchen. He pushed the swinging door open, not bothering to hold it open for Goh, who had to push the door open with his foot since he was carrying the folded clothes.
"Here we are," Goh announced, walking around his fellow Knights and up to the small cardigan wrapped child. He knelt down on his knee, holding the clothes out to the boy. Sasame looked into Goh's eyes with a slight hesitation before darting his hands out to snatch the clothes.
"..Thank you." Sasame replied, looking sideways to Himeno. She reached down and took his hand, leading him out of the room.
"I'll help him get dressed." Himeno said, smiling back at the other Leafe Knights. They nodded in response as she and the small boy left the room. There was a hanging moment of silence before anyone spoke up.
"..He should train as soon as he can. We never know when something may come up." Kei spoke up, resting his back on the wall.
"I agree. It took us by surprise how much remaining demon larvae there was after Takako was saved several years ago. They still appear every now and then." Hayate nodded in agreement.
Hajime pulled out a stool, sitting on it and resting his elbows on his knees. "So.. We have a new Leafe Knight of Sound because.."
"..Because Sasame did technically die seven years ago, and as soon as a Leafe Knight dies, a new Knight is conceived. The new Knight already obtained the powers of the Knight of Sound, even though Sasame was reborn." Goh explained, smiling to Hajime.
"..So.. he'll be able to prét and everything?" Mannen asked. Hayate nodded in response.
"We will begin his training only with us.. he must train in that manner for at least a few years before he will be able to prét with Himeno. That is the way we trained you three, and it worked out quite well.." Kei commented, looking to the three youngest Knights. "Granted.. we have never had a new Knight born while we had a Prétear so it is bound to be different." He added.
"Perhaps this time we shall play it by ear.. Maybe even Sasame would like to help us train the new Knight.. he could be a great help to the child." Hayate replied. Himeno reentered the room, Sasame trailing after her. He wore a light blue t-shirt and dark blue shorts, each slightly baggy on him since he was smaller than Hajime had been at the time. Hayate approached him, kneeling down and placing his hands on Sasame's shoulders.
"We are going to go to Leafenia tomorrow.. you will begin your training with us.. and then eventually you will be able to prét with Lady Himeno.. is that understood?" He asked. Sasame nodded to Hayate, smiling silently. Goh walked up behind Hayate, looking down at the child.
"And you will be staying here with Kei and me.. you can stay in Mannen's room with him until we can get something sorted out for you." Goh smiled. Mannen began to protest, but stopped when Kei shot him a severe glare and mouthed the word 'no' to him.
Mannen sighed and rolled his eyes but made sure to turn his head as he did so, so that young Sasame wouldn't see him. on, kid... I'll show you to our room."
The child nodded wordlessly, his eyes bearing a rather sleepy droop already, and he followed Mannen like an obedient puppy. Hajime and Shin immediately followed.
"I think I'll fix him something to eat..." Goh said, patting Himeno's shoulder lightly. "Poor kid needs to get some meat on his bones if he's going to be spending the kind of energy it takes to be a Leafe Knight."
"And... I think I'm going to go see Sasame." Hayate thought out loud, looking to Himeno for her input.
"Alright, Hayate." Himeno said in response. "I'll help clean up the glass mess." She commented, stepping over to where Goh left the small broom and dustpan. As she did, she felt a warm wind pass through her hair, a faint scent of cinnamon passing her senses. She turned around on her heels, noting that Hayate was now gone. "..He's gone to Leafenia.."
"Yes. He said he would." Goh nodded in response, taking a saucepan out of the cabinet. He walked over to the sink and poured some water into the pan.
"..Do you wonder how Sasame will react to this new Leafe Knight?" Himeno asked.
Goh shrugged, placing the saucepan on the stovetop. "Sasame has accepted his new life. He still gets to keep his radio show, and he and Takako are happy together. I don't think he has any regrets." Goh replied, opening another cabinet to pull out a can of chicken soup. He walked up to the electric can opener, looking back at Himeno. "He'll be back before too long." Himeno nodded, exiting the room into the dining room to sweep up the glass.
After Himeno left, Kei stood at the other end of the kitchen from Goh, looking over his shoulder as if thinking. He kicked off of his perch, which had been leaning against the wall, and approached Goh. The Knight of Light took his partner's hand, squeezing it lightly to let him know he was there.
"..Kei.." Goh whispered.
"..It'll be alright." Kei replied, his voice level and soothing. Goh turned and looked to Kei, his eyes lighting up.
"Guess we're parents again, Kei." Goh replied, grinning.
A/N: Chapter two is done! Muahahaa.. look forward to the original Sasame in chapter 3!! Also, check out my uber talented sis SweetCadbury's fics! Kei/Goh abounds!