Disclaimer: I do not own Ai Yori Aoshi and Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi. This is the property of Kou Fumizuki, Pioneer/Geneon, and JC Staff.

Blue Monarch
Act 2, Scene 2

He had returned with a tray laden with their tea and snacks. Of course, Aoi had politely taken the tray from him and set it between them. From there, he stayed all day, keeping her company. He would leave, but only to return the next day, and the next, and so forth.

For today, a tray of tea and mocchi was set in the space between them.

Aoi had reached that emotional level where she was too tired to brood anymore, and since Seiji's arrival, she was distracted by his efforts to entertain her. His mannerisms were livelier, and he brought a sense of familiarity that she didn't know she had forgotten. She had settled into a different routine, and part of her wanted to pretend to have some sense of normalcy and healing. If anything, this would be a reprieve until the next blue mood.

It may have been comforting to be around her first family, to at least talk of things other than what she left behind and what she has come back to, but she still worried.

With every visit, she worried.

Seiji continued to talk about his time abroad and in the country, coinciding with her time spent with Kaoru-sama. He never asked her about what she had done or how she had occupied herself. His body twitched as he wanted to emphasize with his hands, but held back from doing so. Here it was rude to talk with your hands, unlike in such places as North America or Europe. His voice was a little higher and a little louder, always on the edge of a laugh, as he regaled her.

She listened with only half an ear.

His unsaid reason for being here made her nervous. As much as she tried to keep her mind off it... the effort only seemed to keep her in suspicion.

"Aoi-hime? Aoi-hime?" A large hand waved in front of her face.

She started a little. "Mm?"

He looked at her quizzically. "Are you sure you're feeling better? Maybe I should go get Miyabi-san an-"

"Seiji-kun."

Now it was his turn to start at the interruption. This was probably her closest display of snapping at him.

Aoi softened her tone. "Seiji-kun, why are you here? It appears..." a sip of her tea, "so sudden."

His deep green eyes flickered away from her for a moment. "I was told you were sick. Can I not be concerned for Aoi-hime? You're my family."

She took a long draught of the warm green liquid, picking her next words carefully. "You came because Miyabi told you to."

"She didn't tell me to do anything," he defended. He tensed momentarily then sighed, looking ashamed. "Sorry." He played with his cup, his finger tracing over the rim, also choosing his words. "Aoi-hime, all I know by far is that you are... greatly upset over something very personal. Personal enough that Miyabi would tell me about your distress and not Sakuraba-sama and Obasama. So I will keep you company until you feel that you're ready to tell me why you're here instead of with your Kaoru-sama. I won't ask anything of you until you're ready to tell me."

He leaned away, granting her space.

So they sat there and sipped in the silence. She sat straight and proper and rigid, staring straight ahead into the grounds; she held her cup close to herself, one hand wrapped around it and the other cradling the bottom. He rested against a post to his left, pinning his left arm while he languidly lifted the cup with the other, back and forth between the tray and his lips.

He had not pressured her into telling him anything; all he was simply offering was his company.

Aoi inwardly flinched - awareness of her insensitivity pricked at her.

"Gomen."

Seiji's shoulders rolled back, granting him a small slouch. "No, Aoi-hime, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped like that. You... You're... stressed, and you have every right to question my presence."

"Seiji-kun, thank you."

"You're welcome."

She sighed to herself and set her tea aside.

"I think you should know why I have returned to Sakuraba. It is because of Kaoru-sama..."

And Aoi told him.

The blue lady folded her hands on her lap and watched her cousin's reaction.

Seiji's brow was narrowed and he was frowning. He sat straight and attentive, and he now sat on both hands. It was easy to see that he was restraining himself.

"That bastard."

He was angry.

"I want to hurt him more than he's hurt you."

Apparently very angry.

Aoi was surprised when she darted to settle her hand on his knee. "Dame." It was a reaction. "Please... I do not want anyone else to hate him." A very quick reaction.

The anger faded on his face. "Aoi-hime..." He shifted, freeing his right hand to put it atop hers. "I won't do anything. As much as I want to, I know it's not my place. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Will... will you tell anyone?"

He gave her a gentle squeeze. "Of course not. You should know me better than that."

"Gomen..."

Another squeeze. "I'm sorry that it happened. I wish it never happened, and I feel responsible for not being able to protect you, Aoi-hime."

"Seiji-kun... I was the one who chose to leave, I was the one who found Kaoru-sama, and I chose to stay with him. Do not blame yourself; you did not know. You were not supposed to know. You had nothing to do with this, nothing at all."

Aoi thought that, despite her reassurance, a look of hurt flashed across his face. Or maybe it was surprise. She couldn't really tell, but pushed it aside when the shock wore off and he gave her a shaky, wan smile. His mouth parted momentarily, as if he were to say something. Instead, his tongue darted out and licked his lips.

"Thank you, Aoi-hime."

She was puzzled by his hesitation, but chose to ignore it instead.

One sidelong glimpse at Seiji: he had turned slightly and was preoccupied with analyzing the grain of the post.

Her gaze was lost amongst the forests where she and Kaoru-sama used to play.

So they sat there, trying to divine memories from the wood.