Epilogue
tatta hitotsu no kokoro kanashimi ni kurenaide
kimi no tameiki nante harukaze ni kaete yaru
hi no ataru sakamichi o jitensha de kakenoboru
kimi to nakushita omoide nosete yuku yo
(Don't let your only heart become darkened by sadness
I'll change your sighs into the spring breeze
I ride my bike fast up the sunny hill
Carrying the memories I forgot with you)
LALALALALA kuchizusamu kuchibiru o somete yuku
kimi to mitsuketa shiawase hana no you ni
(Lalalalala, I hum, staining my lips
The happiness I've found with you is like a flower)
--- Kaze ni Naru; ED theme of The Cat Returns; Vocals, Composition, & Lyrics By Tsuji Ayano
"Ah, Shoukei! The rice pot! The rice!" cried out Suzu in alarm. Her assistant looked down from her starry reverie of when she lived in Hou and servants cooked and served sweet rice dumplings to her by the platter and let out a little shriek. Shoukei immediately took a nearby cloth and removed the overflowing rice pot from the hot fire. She nearly burned her thumb and hissed at the sting as she put her fingers and pinched an unadorned ear lobe.
"This is why we shouldn't let an ex-princess cook," sighed Rakushun, shaking his head sadly. Shokei made like she was going to strike him over the head with the rice ladle. Her Majesty intervened just in time, placing herself between the wooden ladle and her friend's head.
"Now now, Rakushun. Why don't you go outside and entertain Shoryuu and Rokuta? Try to make sure that they don't decide on another drinking game for entertainment, okay?" smiled Youko. "We don't want a repeat of what happened back at his palace."
"I couldn't take another one of those," complained Suzu woefully as she removed the mixed vegetables and greens sautéed in minced garlic and oil from the wok. As Rakushun moved to leave the kitchen, Shoukei grumbled a comment about his getting his fur everywhere anyhow and the mouse turned around to retaliate.
"Now, now," said Youko with a nervous laugh and ushered her friend back outside.
"Youko-chan, can you make sure that the tofu is chopped and dipped into the frying batter?" asked Suzu, as she drained the noodles from a large, steaming pot. Youko looked around and found a nice long knife that would do the trick. She concentrated and held an open palm out at arms length and gripped the knife in the other hand, ready to strike at her new opponent. She could feel Jouyuu tensing inside of her.
The Queen took a deep breath and with a forced "Ha!" releasing her chi, she made her move against her pale, helpless opponent. The slab of soft tofu was sliced and diced expertly, vertically and horizontally, into many perfect cubes, exactly two inches thick. Her friends gawked and nearly dropped what they were doing as they watched in part awe and part shock. They clapped in unison at her stellar performance. Youko put the knife down and laughed shyly. She turned and saw that Keiki was staring wide-eyed at her from the doorway.
"Shu-jou, I would appreciate it if you'd refrain from being so violent towards your food," he admonished. Her friends hid smiles behind their sleeves. Youko set aside a smaller portion on a small, decorative plate, and seasoned it with soy sauce and chopped green onions on the side. She handed it to Keiki, who looked at it dubiously.
"I know you don't like fried tofu, so this is yours," said Youko.
"I don't know if I can eat tofu that's been so horribly assaulted," he said solemnly with a completely straight face. The Queen rolled her eyes in exasperation and ushered him out of the kitchen.
"Where do you want this plate of crab cakes?" asked Shokei, who had expertly garnished the plate with radish skins, steamed crab legs, parsley and coiled green onion stems to make the food resemble a whole crab again.
"Do you think the kirin will be offended?" asked Suzu.
"It's one of the only non-vegetable dishes being served tonight that isn't a derivation of tofu," smiled Youko. "I'm sure Keiki and Rokuta will appreciate our non-use of any serious animal products for this meal. What's important is that you were able to make my soba noodles." The three of them laughed and brought the dishes out to their guests.
"Alas, ladies," said Shoryuu eyeing the food. "How can I bear to be served by an immortal, a princess and a queen all at once?" He, Rokuta, Rakushun and Keiki all stood up from their seat at the table as the ladies approached. On this starry spring night, the group had decided to eat outside in a ring of tall torch lamps in the royal gardens of Kimpa Palace.
"You're bearing it quite admirably, I'd say," rebuked Rokuta, rolling his eyes at his king. His lord and master elbowed him gently in the ribs.
The group lay out the dishes on the round stone table, going through the ritual of passing the salt, soy sauce and hot sauce around accordingly. There was a large plate of greens, mostly for the kirin, that was lightly salted and seasoned with minced garlic. The large plate of fried and battered crab cakes prepared by both Youko and Shoukei was accompanied by a plate of fried and battered tofu prepared by Suzu. The four natives of Hourai were each given a bowl of cold soba noodles with the regular accoutrements of thinly sliced and picked radish, sliced hard-boiled eggs and fried fish balls, also prepared by Suzu. The last item on the menu was a thick, spicy eggplant dish that Shoukei had made, mostly for herself. A bowl of rice, a cup of green tea and miso soup was served at each place setting.
"Itadakimasu!" said Rokuta, Shoryuu, Suzu and Youko gleefully raising their chopsticks, and they all began to eat.
"So, Youko, I hear that you had a bit of trouble a little while back with a wayward goddess?" asked Shoryuu, nonchalantly, poking at a crab cake with one end of a chopstick. Youko eyed Rakushun, the likely culprit who spread the news, who shrugged his shoulders helplessly in response.
"Nothing I couldn't handle," she smiled, slurping up her noodles like an old pro, much to her kirin's chagrin.
"Yeah, right," said Suzu, refilling her bowl of miso. "She fell off a cliff and lost her memory. We thought she was a goner for sure." Shoukei stifled her laughter.
"What?!" asked Rakushun, pounding his furry chest as he nearly choked on his crab cake and gasped to wash it down with green tea. The Queen shot a withering glance in Suzu's direction, who suddenly lost the use of her tongue.
"She even allied herself with Kenrou Shinkun Sama," added Shoukei cheerfully. "I daresay Kei Kokku is making some powerful allies. He even asked her out to tea."
"Did he now?" asked Keiki, shooting an inscrutable look towards his Queen.
"Really?" asked Shoryuu, raising his eyebrow with a look that Youko knew was leading his thoughts into some gutter or another. She rolled her eyes and let out another exasperated sigh.
"I thought you were going to ban sighing in your next proclamation?" asked Rokuta with a mouthful of soba noodles. Suzu and Shokei laughed.
"Her journey into Ten-Mon is going to be archived in my first historical account," added Rakushun on a side note. "Chapter Three of the Histories of Sekishi, in the Era of Seki-Raku; The Queen's Battle Before Ten-Mon," he said, sweeping his arm out in dramatic gesture. Youko put a hand to her forehead, sensing the onset of a fabricated headache that would require her to retire for the night and excuse herself from further embarrassment.
"Say, Keiki. What was on the other side of Ten-Mon, anyway?" asked Rokuta before he took a grip of vegetables into his mouth with a gulp of green tea.
"Hourai," responded Keiki.
"Seriously?" asked Shoryuu, at the same time accompanied by a muffled garble that resembled the word, "Seriously?" from his kirin who had not yet finished chewing.
"No," Suzu chimed in her matter-of-fact tone. "According to the legends back in Sai it's just some blinding light that just forces you out if it isn't your time to cross. Only dead souls can pass through there."
"But people also say that Tentei resides on the other side of the Gate. That's what they say in Hou. Isn't that how the legend in Kei goes, Youko?" asked Shoukei.
"He told me not to say anything," grumbled Youko reaching for another crab cake. She suddenly caught herself and used both sleeved hands to cover her mouth. The Queen's posture was now straight in her chair, looking around nervously. All of her friends were gaping at her now, including her kirin.
"He…," trailed Shoukei.
"Tentei…" breathed Keiki.
"…told you," continued Suzu.
"…not to say?" asked Rakushun, eyes wide as saucers—even for a giant mouse. The table was suddenly eerily silent. Youko laughed nervously.
Shoryuu only grinned wider. "My friends, let's say we have another drinking game tonight, eh? I bet we could get the Queen to spill the details."
"I second," said Rokuta, raising his hand.
"I'm in," said Rakushun seriously.
"Here, here," laughed Shokei and Suzu together. The Queen wilted under their scrutiny and shot pleading glances towards her kirin. He merely shrugged his shoulders and rested his chin in his hand with a faint grin on one side of his face, implying that the situation was out of his hands.
000
Deep in the inner palace, in a small side room that the Queen used to think and be alone in silence, surrounded by artifacts from Hourai and various musical instruments, sat a lone bottle of vanilla soda on a small table. Next to it was an easel with a painting of a red-headed girl surveying the landscape spreading out beyond her feet, standing with all her friends beside her.
Finis.