Hello all! I'm back finally! Many thanks to megan for her review! Glad you liked it! Yeah, it's annoying we don't know much about the old clans but it gives me a lot more freedom.
*HINT HINT* viexon!
And yeah, if GORA finally publishes Ground Zero and it conflicts with my version of events then GORA can mind their business, I was here first.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Colours
"My decision is final, we need not discuss the subject again."
Forget storming out of the building, Seika stormed out of the building and across town until she reached Scepter 4's headquarters, the Gold King's parting words still ringing in her ears.
Her bad mood did not abate in the slightest as she was scanned for weapons (and just what did they plan to do if she was carrying and did they really believe taking a weapon away made her any less dangerous?!) or when she was shown into the Blue King's office and threw herself down in a chair in front of Harabi's desk.
"What's the point of being the strongest King if another King is going to kill all of us and you don't do anything?!" She demanded of the other woman without preamble.
Harabi knew immediately what she was talking about "So I take it talking to Kokujoji did nothing?" She inquired, not batting an eyelid. Over the last few months she'd become used to both Ootori's open emotionalism and her invading Jin's territory whenever the mood struck her.
"Less than nothing. He's useless. Kagutsu's going to kill us all before he even notices." Seika huffed, blowing a few strands of hair out of her eyes. Her hair ignored her as it always did and slid right back into place.
Jin mentally debated whether or not she was too mature to say 'I-told-you-so.' On one hand; it wasn't Kingly, on the other hand; she had told-
"Don't you dare say 'I told you so'," said Seika, glaring at the other King.
Harabi gave a cursory smile, "I did tell you so," she got up and walked around the desk, "you should have listened." She knelt down by Seika's chair.
"I don't-"
Just then Harabi's hand shot out, resting on the back of the chair by Seika's head. "You need to start facing facts," she said, still with that same perfunctory smile.
"What facts, what's gotten into you?" Asked Seika, sitting up straight. This wasn't like Harabi. She was not a physically aggressive woman and that smile was beginning to unnerve Seika.
"You keep acting like Kokujoji just doesn't understand how bad the situation is. He's been a King for longer than you and I have been alive. Put together. He understands. He just doesn't care."
Harabi held Ootori's gaze, "one way or the other a Damocles Down will change everything for Japan. Kokujoji's the King of Potential, and potential stagnates in an unchanging world. He doesn't care if Kagutsu wins, in fact, he might even prefer it if he does." She stood but didn't move away, looking down at Seika, "nothing you say is going to make him wake up and realise this is a Serious Situation and do something about it, he already knows. He just doesn't care."
Seika returned Harabi's stare, "I don't believe that. I don't believe that at all. If His Excellency wont help us it's because he has other important things to deal with and trusts you to do the job yourself."
Jin threw back her head and laughed although there was absolutely no humour in it, "oh I will, don't you worry about that." She smiled again but frowned inwardly, what am I doing? Get a hold of yourself, she told herself sternly. What was it about other Kings that turned Kings into emotional blabbermouths? She'd never be so open with her own clansmen, and she was even worse with Kagutsu!
"You going to do it, aren't you? Kill Kagutsu?" Seika asked, seeing the hard expression on the other woman's face.
Jin paced away. Turning to the window she held her left arm close to her body with her right hand, "not if I don't have to." Her voice sounded oddly fragile. "It's not his fault. You can't make someone the King of Destruction and expect them to be peaceful. He's just doing what Red Kings do. As the King of Order I wont allow him to wreak destruction but I wont kill him for it either, not unless I definitely have no other choice."
Seika frowned at the other woman's back. Hearing that Harabi hadn't signed Kagutsu's kill order should have relieved her.
It didn't.
"Kagutsu's not a beast, he's a man. He's capable of reason. He can choose how to channel that destruction and if he can't and he's lost himself, that's his fault."
Jin wanted to believe the other woman, more than anything. If Kagutsu truly was no more than the living embodiment of violence then what was she? It meant that Jin Harabi had died upon her enthronement and the woman who stood here now was no more than the Dreseden Slate given human form, the embodiment of Order.
That isn't true, she thought fiercely as blue fire swirled through her veins, I control you, you don't control me.
Now if only she could make Kagutsu actually believe that.
And herself.
Out loud she just said, "we'll see."
Seika went to reply when there was a knock on the door, "ma'am," said Shiotsu, opening the door. He didn't explain why he was there, the reason became obvious almost immediately.
"Jin!" A younger version of the Blue King ran into the room and right to Jin, throwing her arms around the Fourth King.
"Rini!" Jin returned the hug, affection now overflowing from her, despite the fact that she'd been all but oozing melancholy mere seconds ago, it was a little disconcerting as Seika was used to Harabi having a pretty even temperament. "How are you little bunny? What are you doing here?!" As she spoke Harabi rubbed her cheek against the girl's silky black hair with obvious adoration.
"Got the day off school so mum said I could come." The girl explained.
"Well aren't I lucky!" Jin straightened up, "Seika, this is my younger sister Rin. Rini, this is my friend Seika."
Jin and Rin. Cute.
"Hi, nice to meet you," Rin Harabi chirped, clearly not at all shy. Now that she'd turned, Seika could tell that, while she looked so much like her older sister it was scary, they weren't identical. Whereas Jin had warm brown eyes, her sister's eyes were a huge, sparkling icy blue.
Fitting, Sekia supposed. She smiled back, "it's nice to meet you too."
She left quickly after that, both to give Harabi more time with her sister and partly because, allies or not, no King wanted their vulnerable family members around another King.
The next time she called Ichigen Miwa she told him what had happened. The other King sounded concerned as she filled him in on her argument with the Gold King and what Harabi had said about it.
"That doesn't sound like either of them. I'll talk to him," Miwa promised and Seika nodded even though she knew he couldn't see her, she was aware the Gold King placed him in high regard, if he was going to listen to anyone it would be the Colourless King.
Unless they could ask the Silver King for help. Then Kokujoji might listen. Seika smiled at the thought.
"And I'll talk to Harabi's clansmen about making sure she gets enough sleep." Seika could only hope being grumpy from lack of sleep was all that was wrong with Harabi.
Ichigen chuckled warmly, "you do that. Even if it doesn't help us, it'll probably do her some good."
Seika's heart warmed, "yes, there is that." She sighed and leaned back on her chair, "I know it does no good to worry but I still…"
"You worry because you're concerned for others, it's not a bad thing. Maybe if everyone 'worried' like you do we wouldn't be in this mess. Just do not allow it to overwhelm you."
"I won't," said Seika with a sigh and Miwa made a noise over the phone. She didn't know how she knew, but Seika knew he was blushing.
"I-I'm sorry, Yukari's always telling me I'm too preachy. You know how to handle you're emotions best, you don't need me telling you. I'll stop talking now…" His voice got progressively quieter with each word until he trailed off.
Seika's shoulders shook, when was the last time she'd made a guy stutter while talking to her? Ichigen Miwa was adorable.
"It's fine," she said. "You didn't sound preachy and I know you're only trying to help."
"I am," he assured her, "but I always get tongue-tied talking to you, so I'm going to ask for your forgiveness in advance."
"Say," he added in a complete non-sequitur, "your headquarters is still at the old Tokyo Church, right?"
"It sure is," said Seika, leaning back on her chair legs, "why?"
"Just wondering."
After Ichigen hung up, Yukari, who had been blatantly eavesdropping over his shoulder, whacked the back of Ichigen's head gently, knocking his hat off. "Did I do so badly?"
"'I always get tongue-tied talking to you'," Yukari quoted. "You tipped your hand too early in the game, now she knows how much she affects you."
"Do I not want her to know that?" Ichigen asked, he might be the master but in this he bowed to Yukari's expertise.
"Not unless you know how much you affect her in return," said Yukari, as though this was obvious. "Now your relationship is unbalanced and there's nothing beautiful about an unbalanced relationship."
Ichigen was a chronically-ill hermit with a teensy-tiny crush that left him without his best quality; his eloquence, and turned him into a chronically-ill blathering idiot hermit. Seika was a goddess with the attendant power and generous, friendly, capable and kind on top of that. Their relationship was already unbalanced.
Yukari must have read Ichigen's thoughts on his face because he shook his head as he got up and started picking up the dishes from dinner. "Imagine having a crush on a King! Can you think anything worse?! Could not be me…" With a sigh he walked into the kitchen, still shaking his head.
Ichigen was getting up to help when a vision hit him on the heels of Yukari's words. It wasn't a proper vision, just that sense of knowing again. That, not just yet, not for a while now, but someday… Yukari's words would not be totally true.
Yukari with a crush on a King? Now there was an amusing -or horrifying- thought. Ichigen tried to chase the vision to see if it had any more to show him. Vague images appeared in his head. Yukari, but older, at least ten years older -so Yukari did make it to adulthood, good to know- and he was talking to someone. This person was sitting down in what looked like a wheelchair and had short, scruffy hair but Ichigen couldn't see more than their outline.
Then that grey fog rolled in, obscuring his vision. Try as Ichigen might, he could not get a vision of Yukari after that, not even a glimpse.
He looked out the window and saw one of their neighbours, a young boy, walking by, and instantly saw him as a young man, tall and broad-shouldered, his arm around a pretty young woman.
He thought of Yukari again and got nothing but fog. The same fog he got when he tried to foresee the outcome of Kagutsu and Harabi's inevitable clash.
But Kagutsu's sword was already in trouble, one way or the other it would be long over before Yukari reached full adulthood so he clearly wouldn't die when the two Kings clashed.
So what in the world was with this fog?!
Yukari stuck his head back into the room, "what?" He asked, seeing the expression on Ichigen's face, "what did you see?"
Ichigen shook himself off, "it's nothing."
Yukari's lips thinned into razor-sharp line. "Fine!"
He stormed off. Yukari did not like when Ichigen kept things from him and he was no longer being diplomatic in letting Ichigen know that. But this was one thing he couldn't share with his foster son.
Hey Yukari, I keep getting visions that enjoy showing me just how much you don't have a future. Have fun with this information! No, if there was one thing Ichigen knew, it was not to kick up a fuss about changing the future. Sometimes the harder you tried to change something, the worse you made it. And he didn't want to scare the boy. Not when he didn't have a solid reason. There was no need to panic. Yet.
Ichigen sighed and placed his had back on his head, despite the fact that he was indoors. "Sorry Yukari."
A few weeks later Seika was in the middle of a discussion with one of her clansmen about distributing food to the people temporarily left homeless by an earthquake when another clansman ran up to her.
"Ma'am, there's someone here to see you," she said when the first woman left.
"Oh?"
"It's the Colourless King, Ichigen Miwa and his vassal." The woman, Ai, said.
"Oh!" Seika jumped slightly, why hadn't she known that without being told?! Normally she could always tell when she was within twenty feet of another King but Ichigen kept catching her by surprise.
She bushed down her hair, not that it needed it. Her hair was so flat it practically stuck to her skull no matter what Seika did to it.
She brushed some -probably imaginary- dirt off of her deep pink denim shorts and sighed inwardly. Not my most elegant outfit but I'm sure it will be fine. She told herself encouragingly, tugging down the hem of her black hoodie. Dammit, both Harabi and Kagutsu dressed to the nines, why couldn't she have been bestowed with something useful like good fashion sense instead of nearly limitless power?
"Yeah I get that," said Ai, understanding. "He is very attractive."
"Aren't you married?" Seika asked as the two of them walked to the church's entrance.
Ai rolled her eyes, "married, not blind." Her wedding band glinted as she shoved one of the church's thick, heavy doors open. "Thank you for waiting!" She called cheerfully.
Ichigen smiled and thanked Ai, before turning to Seika, who smiled at him.
"Mr. Miwa, this is a surprise," now she knew why he'd wanted to confirm the location of her current headquarters.
He smiled at her and bowed slightly in greeting. "Lady Seika, I hope this isn't a bad time."
Ai elbowed her King in the ribs, "he called you 'Lady,' he must think very highly of you?"
"Don't you have someone else to annoy? Seika asked pointedly instead of answering her clansmen's implied question.
Laughing, Ai waggled her fingers at her King and danced off.
"No, it's not a bad time, I'm just surprised. What brings you two here?" Ootori asked, turning back to the other King.
"We heard about the earthquake and wondered if you could use some more helping hands," said Ichigen, while Yukari raised his eyebrows at him from behind.
Seika smiled, "always," she turned and led the two of them inside the church.
"You just want to spend more time with her, the earthquake is just an excuse," Yukari whispered to Ichigen.
"Two things can be true at once," his master said wisely as they followed Seika inside.
Those 'Colourless Bastards' as Kagutsu had called them, were a Godsend. They were good at everything, tireless workers and amicable enough to both give and take orders without any friction.
Yukari in particular was very well liked, especially after he stopped one of Seika's clansmen and sewed up a rip in her skirt. A statistically abnormal part of Cathedral's clansmen were housewives, lots with children of their own, and they all thought Yukari was just adorable.
Ichigen got his fair share of admiring looks too but a lot of those were distinctly more adult, Seika didn't think 'adorable' was the word the women in her clan were using to describe him.
She couldn't blame them though, she quite agreed.
But she wasn't about to tell Ai that.
They were halfway through rebuilding and Ootori had just finished her current job when Tsuzune Haraguchi jogged up to her. Haraguchi was another senior clansman of Seika's and Ai's *cough* archnemesis *ahem* best friend.
"Ma'am, you've been working all morning, we can handle the rest, why don't you take a break?" She told her King gently but firmly. Ootori was familiar with this tone of voice-it meant there was no point in arguing.
Seika pulled out her watch, which she had taken off and stuck in her back pocket while she was working, and checked the time.
To her surprise it was almost 3pm. She'd been thinking it was somewhere around 11 in the morning.
"Ah, good idea, thank you," she laughed apologetically and shoved her watch back in her pocket where it would do her absolutely no good. She really hoped Ichigen and Yukari had taken a break before now. She didn't want the other Kings to think she was a slave-driver.
As it turned out, they hadn't. When Seika asked if they wanted to get lunch with her, Yukari's eyes went wide.
"Well. I would but, um, I have plans," said Yukari quickly.
Ichigen gave him a raised eyebrow that clearly asked what plans Yukari could possibly have but the fourteen year old just shook his head, "I'll be back here in an hour," he said, and took off.
Yukari had plans, plans like not being a third-wheel.
Suddenly finding themselves alone, Seika and Ichigen looked from Yukari's rapidly retreating figure to each other. They both blushed.
This was going to be fun.
Hope you enjoyed guys, bye!
