Title: Undesired Affections
Genre& Ratings: Drama/Romance - Rated PG
Pairing/s: Youko & Keiki (main), Youko & Syouryuu, Youko& Rakushun
Written by: Nickriz
Disclaimers: Juuni Kokuki is the creation of Ono Fuyumi.
Summary: A romantic diversion takes place in Kimpa Palace between Youko and Keiki, while a turn of events brings in a quadrangular love web. How can Youko retain the delicate friendships and still pursue love?


Chapter 3

End of Twilight, Beginning of Dawn

Part 3

Song of the Phoenix, Roar of the Dragon I

"Jewels of brilliance adorn her crown,

Glinting sharply on the brow,

Feathers of gold her garments,

As molten rivers, born of fire.

Honey drips from her luscious lips,

An overflowing intoxicating wine,

A voice clearer than mountain streams,

Sings a mesmerizing song."

The sounds of footsteps were heard in the palace corridor. Soon, as it faded, the guards at the entrance of the chamber bowed in acknowledgement. Standing aside, the door soon opened and gently closed behind its visitor.

Within the silence, a man in robes slowly walked though the beautifully designed space with a serene calm. Heading towards a flight of marble stairs within the center of the large palace-like chamber, the robed man carefully made his way up to the second floor. Coming to a halt before a large marble door, carved with the insignia of the mythical creature of the ruling monarch, the bejeweled doors had a double iron ring fastened through the fangs of two miniature heads of a lion on each side of the doors.

A hand lifted, and gently pressed the crown of the ring it held into a small hole on one of the lion's eyes. As the ring twisted, a roar was heard from within the chamber behind giant marble doors. Retrieving the ring and securely placing it into the exquisite pouch it had been taken from, the man lifted both his hands, and gripped the double rings on the door.

Giving it a slight push, the marble door's mechanism set in, and it opened on its accord. As the doors widened, the robed man proceeded as it closed once again behind his soon disappearing form.


Gazing at the men below, an in audible sigh escaped from a pair of thinly set lips. Listening to the given reports was currently draining out his enthusiasm, which he had a better place to spend on. Looking over his shoulder at his faithful companion, the younger man turned to him with a frown over his handsome childlike face. With a look that resembled that of a nagging mother, the younger man turned to look away, and once again gazed straight at the men seated below him.

The hours soon passed quickly, out of his mouth came their orders and instructions. As they were dismissed, the man finally rested his rigid muscles on his chair, and leaned his head back to relieve a mild growing headache.

A hand rested on his shoulders, and he opened his closed eyes and gave the young man a genuine smile.

Once again closing his eyes, he allowed himself a retreat from thinking for now. Looking back at the serene face of the resting man, the youth slowly exited himself from his place and climbed down the flight of stairs of the platform. Walking towards the exit of the throne room, he paused for a moment.

A soft grin graced his features as he moved to close the wooden doors behind him and made his way to his duties for the day.


Warmth seeping from the delicate pair of hands on her shoulders smothered her unruly thoughts. Not realizing that she had been given to staring into the unknown, Youko gently turned to face Suzu who had currently roused her from her stupor. Grateful for the interruption, she smiled at the concerned beauty that sat next to her in the privacy of her own room.

Taking in a deep breath to sooth her frayed nerves and worries, Youko sipped at her tea before finally giving voice to her thoughts.

"What do you think?" she questioned.

"Was there any reason given?" came the reply.

"None that I know of, nor was I told."

"Shoukei didn't say anything about any new reports that could have brought such a response. Moreover, should there be, you'd be informed of it as we speak."

The rustle of silk and soft footsteps made its way to the window facing the garden. Suzu creased her brows and turned to look at her friend and empress. Though she has been aware of the growing awkwardness of the situation in the palace between those two, she still hasn't given voice to her opinions of that matter.

Steeling herself for a gentle confrontation, she smiled at the young girl who looks about as nervous as a child who's been caught red-handed in being disobedient.

Youko breathed in and heaved a long sigh. Hearing the pacing of Suzu once again in the room, she turned to look at the garden outside her chamber. The weather had been beautiful this morning, and now, a slight breeze wafted into her living space and it seemed to understand the current coldness that she feels sipping into her worried mind. The sun was still high in the late morning sky.

"Have you both been talking much lately?" Suzu began. Looking nonchalantly at the birds chirping from the trees.

A long pause before Youko answered.

"It wouldn't have been much of a conversation" Youko answered briefly before she continued.

"He never lets on more than he would want to. It's like trying to speak to a deaf mute and expecting them to return the favour."

A smile crept up on the cherry lips of the young woman at the window. Giving a glance to the other woman, she urged her to continue.

"To say the least, it was puzzling to behold that face of his with a scowl and something akin to anger reflected on it.

"That is a rare fortune indeed," Suzu complimented and gave a short giggle.

"That look..," Youko paused.

"What's with it?" Suzu puzzled.

"It seems to be directed at me." Youko frowned in disapproval.

"Doesn't he do that to you often? He always seems to be going about in an angry fit looking for someone."

"No, not really all the time. He actually makes it much more like a gentle rebuke when he's with me. It's not like the one I'd seen earlier."

Turning from the chilly winds from the window, Suzu made her way across the room to the marble table once again where Youko sat. Taking her place next to the empress, Suzu gently picked up her cup of tea and sipped at it, hoping to let the heat wash over her quickly and provide some warmth from the chills of the afternoon winds.

Youko did the same and took a few sips from her own cup, and allowed herself a brief pause from their conversation. Closing her eyes, she let the golden bitter taste of green tea permeate her taste buds. Undoubtedly, it was one of the finest grades of tea that she has within her small delicate hands.

"Do you think he could have foreseen some danger perhaps?" Youko questioned with enthusiasm.

"You mean a rival at love perhaps?" Suzu clued her friend with a hint as to where she was trying to drive the conversation.

The question came as a surprise to Youko and she looked in disbelief at Suzu as if the girl had suddenly spoken a different language.

"Suzu, what are you insinuating? There's not even a single spark between the two of us! So how could there be a "rival at love" so to speak?" Youko countered.

Inwardly smirking and composing a cool and motherly front before Youko, Suzu placed a hand on Youko's arm and genuinely looked at her. Smiling, she gave a soft squeeze.

"It's no wonder that the gentleman was not himself today,..given that his object of affections hardly see him as anything other than a servant."

At that, Suzu gave a heartfelt laugh.

Youko sighed and slumped her shoulders in defeat. Suzu always had a way with getting her point across. Realizing that Suzu was trying to break the ice for her to speak openly about her own feeling for once, Youko conceded.

"Haven't you been busy, Suzu, my dear sister?" Youko gave a small smile and a knowing look.

"If its only for the interest of my precious sister, that is," Suzu answered with a short laugh.

"That was very disobedient of you, I could have you punished."

Suzu laughed out more, and removed her hand from Youko's arm. She sipped her tea again and inhaled the scent of the hot tea. A very puzzled Youko frowned at her in confusion.

"Before you could do that, wouldn't you be pestered by a currently scowling and angry gentleman, for the relief of my punishment?"

Suzu giggled at her rebound. Flicking some imaginary flint from her silk robes, she glanced at Youko who was currently giving her a smirk.

"Now, now, my dear sister, he'd have to listen to me no matter what I decide on. He has no choice. But for once I will allow you this small victory, and I concede defeat." Youko reprimanded politely and put one of her hands on her waist, giving the pose of someone who is in control of the situation.

Suzu and Youko both burst into giggles at each other for their little act, and slowly quieted down. Finally gotten over her barrier secrecy, Youko smiled as she closed her eyes and prepared for what was to come.

Her eyes opened and focused on the framed embroidery on the wall in front of her and closed her eyes again.

"History shouldn't be allowed to repeat," Youko paused.

She opened her eyes and focused on Suzu's comforting face, and searched for the understanding she needed. Suzu nodded and Youko took it as a sign to go on.

"Feelings aside, I have wondered about the possibilities even if I were to be selfish and repeat history. But..what about his feelings and his views? He is the one who had suffered the consequence of something which he did not even realize was happening to him. I can't put him through the same experience again after what we've achieve so far…" Youko's countenance sank and a tint of sadness emerged in her voice.

Suzu looked with concern and took hold of Youko's hand in her own and gave it a light squeeze. She then looked away, and fixed her gaze at the scenery outside.

"I cannot begin to imagine or try to understand the things that he goes through because of it," Suzu voice finally.

"As far as I can see it, I imagined a beautiful relationship for the two of you.."

Suzu paused mid-sentence, causing Youko to look at her for a moment.

"Although he's not fully a man..but a hanyou in a certain sense," Suzu finished, and tilted her head upward in a contemplative manner, as if having a vision of something unseen.

Staring at her friend in a wide-eyed puzzlement, Youko wondered what sort of imaginings is currently swimming in the mind of the woman before her. Thinking back to the last statement she heard, Youko wondered aloud at herself in puzzlement.

"Keiki is not fully a man? But a hanyou?" came the words. Youko thought again.

"I know that he's a Kirin, but other than that he seems to be all male to me, even in his Kirin form. So what do you mean exactly, Suzu?" Youko asked.

Coming out of her sapposed vision, Suzu blushed and giggled before clearing her throat. Sitting back down on her marble stool, Suzu looked away for a moment and glanced at the tea before her and attempted to bring her point across.

"Keiki might seem all male in his human form, and he's capable of transforming at will..but something just struck me just now as I mentioned that," Suzu blushed before she could go on.

Youko waited and readied herself for the news Suzu was about to spill on her.

Leaning closer to the marble table, she placed her fidgeting finger on her teacup.

"What 'struck' you? Am I to suppose that it's bad?" Youko asked; her face marred with slight confusion and worry.

Suzu's blush deepened and then as she glanced at Youko for the approval to continue, she took a deep breath, and slowly spoke her mind.

"It just struck me, a picture of you and Keiki in your most intimate moments between lovers.." a pause. The face of a certain empress turned to a beautiful flush almost matching her fiery hair.

"I wondered if you'd wake up the next morning, and finding yourself lying next to a certain horse with a horn on its head, limbs tangled together.." Suzu trailed off as her eyes settled in the direction of a bedchamber hidden from view within Youko's personal private quarters.

Stunned beyond embarrassment, Youko herself was trying to fully grasp an image of herself and Keiki, in their intimate moments, and another of her in the said predicament voiced by Suzu. Youko blinked her emerald eyes as she tries to clear the picture painted for her by her close friend, looking akin to shocked.

Clearing her throat again, Suzu continued as she threw caution to the wind, knowing that she had to say it now before it got too embarrassing even for her.

"Although I would not think that Shoryuu had such problems, he would be what I would term as a complete man, which a certain tortured gentleman would think of as a rival at love. Moreover, Shoryuu is very much a man any woman would consider…" Suzu paused again to gauge Youko's reaction.

Glancing to see Youko in a contemplative gaze looking at her cup of tea, Suzu quickly resumed.

"Seeing that you're in close friendship with the man, have you ever thought of him in that manner, Youko?"

Suzu's robes shuffling and the sound of her soft footfall on the stone floor of the room caused the sudden tension to ease. Getting up from her stool, Youko made her way to Suzu at the window and stood behind her friend.

"Maybe you should get prepared for your appointment with the "rival at love", and speak to that jealous man before you go?" Suzu advised and turned to grin mischievously at Youko.

Quickly before Youko came up with a rebound; Suzu pushed her friend into the inner bedchamber and started moving back and forth the room to gather the robes, hairpieces and some materials to prepare the empress for the meeting.


A lone figure sat at the desk in the study room, trying to sift through the reports currently occupying its space. Looking back and forth between the lines, yet not registering the words before him, the young man almost seethed in a growl. Placing a hand around his temples, he massaged his throbbing head and tried to achieve a sense of calm. It would do him no good to go on in a continued fit, he mused.

Yet, as the winds of winter brushed past him in its gentle caress, his skin felt warm and hot, refusing to be comforted by the refreshment it brings in its wings. Leaving the young man in his own solitude to contemplate the scene that took place a while ago, the room quieted down from the howling winds.

Keiki smoothed one hand over the parchment of scrolls before him and tried to sink in the words he sees before him. Yet his eyes would not behold them. It would blur in his mind's eye to a certain woman lying on the ground before in her sleep. The thought itself made his breath labored, and inwardly he felt a stab of a cut and anger rising.

It had never been him to feel such feelings for anyone, even for the last empress, it had been all so different. Perhaps, he mused, this was how she felt all the while. Not completely convinced that this is happening, he tried to refocus his vision on the work piled on top of his massive red wood table. A hand lifted to the brush stand next to him and picked a brushed from its place and was dipped in the fresh black ink that was prepared.

Taking a fresh scroll from a porcelain vase next to his desk, Keiki resigned to write the proposals for the reports filed. As he wrote with forceful brush strokes the likes of a calligrapher, his thoughts unconsciously drifted back to her and their earlier encounter.


Standing rooted to the ground, Keiki's eyes rolled over a full gamut of expression from feeling betrayed to anger. His eyes were fixed on the woman before him, thinking of how much he had been by her side these days to cause him to feel for her. The pale lip on his face was set into a thin frown as his breathing came in difficult labored breaths. As he was contemplating his next move, to leave or to stay, the slight movements from her caused his thoughts to break its flow momentarily.

Youko groaned as she opened her eyes, to be assaulted by the bright morning sun. Lifting her head from her resting spot, she moved to sit herself on the ground once again. A drop of sweat glistened down the side of her face as she lifted her face to the skies and closed them to enjoy the cool breeze around the garden.

Her mind wandered to a golden haired young man, and immediately her eyes sprang open, remember her appointment with Shoryuu. She smiled at herself for being so careless again to have dozed off when something important was at hand.

Stretching the knots out of her tired muscles, Youko thought aloud.

"I have to find Keiki. He's supposed to meet with me and discuss some matters of state before I leave to see Shoryuu. I wonder what he (Keiki) is doing right now? Must be busy running through reports I guess."

Keiki watched as his empress mused to herself and was appeased that she mentioned his name and her meeting with him. But the moment Shoryuu's name fell out of her lips; the words that he was about to speak were cut off from speech. Furthermore, he had heard her wondering aloud about what Shoryuu, referring to En-ou with such familiarity that almost choked the breath out of him.

Without thought, Keiki announced his presence with a cold greeting laced with a hint of sarcasm that he had never shown.

"Shujyou.."

Lost in her own thought of Keiki, Youko almost jumped to the icy tone her name was spoken from his lips. Turning around to meet his face, Youko was almost too happy to have him close, a soft blush creeping to her cheeks as she recalled that she had just been thinking about him a scant moment ago.

Keiki was standing before her in a rigid stance; his eyes gleamed with a faraway look, unfeeling. Youko wondered if he was afraid that her servants amidst

their chores had caught them together in such a display, which explains his cold demeanor to her at that moment. Blushing again at the thought of a possible scandalous secret meeting appearing in the minds of gossipy servant girls, Youko hid her eyes from his scrutiny behind her bangs. As she felt the cool of the breeze soften the heat on her face, she looked up to his gaze and gave him a sincere and warm smile, daring him to break his cold façade.

Keiki stood there unmoving, and watched her shy away from him possibly afraid to show her face after declaring her interest in En-ou. He saw the blush appearing on her flushed cheeks, even though her tanned skin almost concealed it. The smile genuine smile coming from her unexpectedly melted his steely resolve to be cold towards her, and for a moment he let a small smile creep to his lips for her.

"Keiki, we were supposed to talk about certain issues before my appointment with Shoryuu? Have you come for that?" Youko questioned gently, warmed by the slight show of emotion from him.

Again, the mention of Shoryuu's name brought back the anger and jealousy he felt and his cold mask fell back into place, as he answered with such indifference that he made sure she felt the fullness of his displeasure.

"Why else would I be here, if not for the sake of reminding Shujyou of her appointment with En-ou? I wouldn't have to be here if not for my empress who is lazing around with thoughts of another man instead of her duties, I suppose?"

As if stung by numerous thorns, Youko felt the strong words he drifted over her as he spoke. Unaccustomed to Keiki reacting in such a manner for no reason, she furrowed her brows and looked at him with confusion pooling in her emerald orbs. All feeling of joy at him being near her crumbled like dust blown in the wintry winds as she tried to make a connection to his sudden hostile treatment towards her.

Hoping to salvage the situation, Youko released her frown and tried to give Keiki a warm smile and as she licked her parched lips to prepare for what she wanted to ask, Keiki narrowed his eyes at her smile and turned his back towards her, and began to make his way back into the inner palace walkway.

Youko lifted a hand to reach out to him, as she stood rooted to the ground, confused and feeling a little hurt at his rejection of her smile. She heard him as he continued through the trees, his voice colder than the chilling winds that is starting to bite into her warm skin.

"Shujyou, please make good time not to be late. 'Shoryuu must be waiting anxiously for me', if I've heard you correctly earlier."

With that, Keiki narrowed his eyes as he quickly made an exit from her presence, not trusting himself to stay longer before he lost all sense of control and order within his frayed nerves. He wanted nothing more than to question her out in the open if she felt anything for him, even if it meant that it would be spotted by some palace maids or guards.

Rounding a corner of the garden that he was familiar with, he walked over to the gentle river that flowed into the palace and stood before it. Closing his eyes, he lifted his face to the skies and willed his beast form into existence in a gust of wind and fallen leaves.

The water's reflection yawned and rippled away gently as it smoothed to reveal a magnificent kirin, crowned with a glossy golden mane as it snorted and pounded its left front hoof on the edge of the large river.

As quickly as it appeared, it quickly disappeared from the edge of the waters as the kirin galloped swiftly away into the nearby mountains, slowly disappearing from sight. Only the evidence of a crumpled set of robes lying at the river's edge was there to proof that he was there.


Author's Note:

Sorry it took such a long time but I've been travelling between countries lately and wasn't in the insprired mood to write romantic love stories between these two. But the story was completed for this chapter before i left for my month long trip to LA, except that it was not published since it felt incomplete and too short.

So I wrote a little bit during my trip, but enough to give plot to the next chapter, and thus this two new chapters are a branch of the 3rd chapter's Part 3. It might continue for a few morre mini parts..and it'll depend on where the story lead. At the moment it looks promising for the development of the characters.

Thanks for the reviews and please stay tuned. I'd like to hear more reviews and feedback. It helps to give me inspiration to write also admist my schedule.

Nickriz